Tracey N. Wise

Hon. Tracey N. Wise is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Lexington, appointed on March 31, 2010. She served as Chief Judge from Oct. 1, 2011, until Sept. 30, 2019. Judge Wise also served on the Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel from 2016-21, and as its Chief Judge from Oct. 1, 2019, to Oct. 31, 2021. She also served on its Education Planning Committee and Wellness Committee, and on the Planning Committee for the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference. Prior to her appointment, Judge Wise practiced in the areas of bankruptcy and debt restructuring for more than 25 years, including with Wise, Warnecke & Wise and Wise DelCotto PLLC. She has served as Planning Committee chair of the Biennial Judge Joe Lee Bankruptcy Institute, a University of Kentucky College of Law Continuing Legal Education Program, since 2015; spearheaded the development of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges’ (NCBJ’s) Elder Care - Financial Literacy for Seniors program; has supported law clerks, judicial interns and externs, including through the Summer Judicial Internship Diversity Project; and, in 2020, received NCBJ’s Membership Services Committee’s Public Outreach Award. Judge Wise is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and served on the advisory board of ABI’s Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar from 2000-03. In addition, she is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Central Kentucky American Inn of Court, Kentucky Bar Association (for which she has served as Bankruptcy Section chair and Client Security Fund trustee) and the Fayette County Bar Association (for which she has served as Bankruptcy Section chair), and she is vice president of the board of directors of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure’s Lexington Affiliate. A frequent author and lecturer, Judge Wise was listed in The Best Lawyers in America from 1997-09 and in Super Lawyers Kentucky as a “Top 50 Lawyer” and “Top 25 Female Lawyer.” In 2023, she received the prestigious Judge William L. Norton, Jr. Judicial Excellence Award during NCBJ’s 97th Annual Meeting. Judge Wise received her B.A. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1980 from Indiana University, and her J.D. from Indiana University School of Law in 1983, where she was admitted to the Order of the Coif and served as note editor of the Indiana Law Journal.