Brian T. Fenimore

Hon. Brian T. Fenimore is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City, appointed on Aug. 31, 2017. He served five years as Chief Judge, during which time he served on the Federal Judicial Center’s Planning Committee for the 2024 National Leadership Conference for Chief Judges of U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was a partner in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Lathrop & Gage LLP for more than 25 years and co-chaired its Banking & Creditors’ Rights practice area, representing debtors, creditors and many other parties in interest. He also represented borrowers and lenders in problem loan matters, including loan enforcement, guarantor liability, workouts, reorganizations and bankruptcies throughout the U.S. Judge Fenimore is admitted to practice in Kansas and Missouri, and before the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri and the District of Kansas, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the District of Kansas and the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri. As a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, he currently serves on the Federal Rules Advisory Committee and the Budget Initiatives Committee, and previously served on the Membership Services and New Member Committees. Judge Fenimore is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2003, among other listings. He is also a frequent speaker and ABI member. Judge Fenimore received his B.S. magna cum laude in 1988 in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his J.D. in 1990 from the University of Michigan Law School, after which he clerked for Hon. Arthur B. Federman.