Hon. Kesha L. Tanabe

Hon. Kesha L. Tanabe is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Minnesota in St. Paul, appointed on Jan. 7, 2022, and the first Asian-American woman on the federal bench in Minnesota. She previously was a bankruptcy attorney with Tanabe Law in Minneapolis and is licensed in North Dakota, Minnesota and New York. Judge Tanabe started her career as an assistant attorney general in New York. Prior to starting her own firm, she was a partner at ASK LLP, Maslon LLP and Faegre Baker Daniels. Additionally, she was a subchapter V trustee in Region 12 and taught bankruptcy law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Judge Tanabe is a board-certified business bankruptcy specialist, a former member of the Bankruptcy Practice Committee for the District of Minnesota and a former co-editor in chief of the MSBA Bankruptcy Bulletin. She is a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy topics nationwide, and she is a member of several legal and community organizations, including the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Minnesota Lavender Bar Association. She also served as a Special Projects Leader for ABI’s Bankruptcy Litigation Committee. Judge Tanabe is a graduate of the London School of Economics and received her J.D. from Cardozo School of Law.