Karen K. Specie

Hon. Karen K. Specie is the Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee, also presiding over cases in Gainesville, Panama City and Pensacola. She was initially appointed on July 25, 2012. Judge Specie began her legal career with a Manhattan law firm, representing creditors in commercial litigation and bankruptcy. She then practiced with Fowler, White, Boggs, et al.in Tampa and has practiced solo and as a shareholder with firms in Gainesville; just prior to taking the bench, Judge Specie was Of Counsel to Akerman LLP as part of its Bankruptcy and Reorganization practice group in Jacksonville, Fla. While in private practice, she focused on commercial litigation and commercial and consumer bankruptcy cases throughout Florida and the Southeast. Judge Specie has taught bankruptcy and secured transactions as an adjunct professor of law at the University of FloridaLevin College of Law, where she still teaches advanced bankruptcy. She has served as a chapter 7 panel trustee for the Northern District of Florida, is a founder of the Federal Bar Association for North CentralFlorida, and has been a member of the Bankruptcy/UCC Committee of the Business Law Section of TheFlorida Bar since the early 1990s. Judge Specie currently serves on the Executive Council of the FloridaBar Business Law Section, is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and is a member of ABI,INSOL, IWIRC and NCBJ. In 2018, she chaired the committee that organized and presented the Bankruptcy Roundtable at the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference. In addition to traveling throughout theNorthern District to perform her judicial duties, Judge Specie routinely speaks at CLE programs for various organizations such as The Florida Bar, the Alabama Bar Association, the Jacksonville BankruptcyBar Association and the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association. She received her B.A.from the University of South Florida and her J.D. from Florida State University College of Law.