Lewis M. Killian, Jr.

Hon. Lewis M. Killian, Jr. (ret.) is Of Counsel with Berger Singerman LLP in Tallahassee, Fla., and a member of its Business Reorganization Team. He has successfully completed certification to become a Circuit Civil mediator in Florida and completed ABI’s and St. John’s University’s 40-Hour Bankruptcy Mediation Training program. For more than 25 years, Judge Killian served as the Chief BankruptcyJudge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida. He was first appointed by theEleventh Circuit Court of Appeals as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the district on Sept. 22, 1986, and onSept. 22, 2000, he was reappointed for a second term. During his time on the bench, Judge Killian had been the sole bankruptcy judge in the Northern District, which required him to regularly travel to hold hearings in each of the four divisions: Gainesville, Tallahassee, Panama City and Pensacola. Prior to his judicial appointment, he served for 10 years as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam conflict, including a tour in Vietnam, where he received several military awards and decorations. He retired from the Army Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, JAGC. Judge Killian graduated from the U.S.Military Academy at West Point in 1969 and received his J.D. with honors in 1976 from Florida StateUniversity College of Law.