The Honorable Rebecca B. Connelly is the Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Virginia. She was the first female appointed to the bankruptcy bench in Virginia. Before joining the bench, Judge Connelly was the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee and Chapter 12 Trustee for the Western District of Virginia. Prior to that, she was in private practice in Virginia and in Washington, D.C. and a law clerk to the Honorable Martin V.B. Bostetter, Jr.
Judge Connelly is an adjunct professor of law at Washington and Lee University School of Law (teaching bankruptcy). She is a frequent speaker for Virginia CLE and various bankruptcy associations. She is an author of two chapters of Bankruptcy Practice in Virginia (2004, reprinted 2008, and revised and reprinted 2017).
Since 1994, Judge Connelly has been an active member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. She has served as a contributing editor and a features author for the ABI Law Journal, a member of the Consumer Law Committee, and a speaker at the Annual Spring Meeting, the Winter Leadership Conference, regional conferences, Eye on Bankruptcy, and Views from the Bench.
Since 2012, Judge Connelly has been a member and active participant in the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ). Judge Connelly formerly chaired the NCBJ Federal Rules Advisory Committee and currently is a member of the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, Judicial Conference of the United States.
Judge Connelly is a CARE volunteer and serves on the advisory board to CARE (Credit Abuse Resistance Education).