Hon. Mary Jo Heston

Hon. Mary Jo Heston is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma, appointed on Jan. 31, 2017. Previously, she was a shareholder in the Seattle and Portland, Ore., offices of Lane Powell PC, where her practice involved commercial litigation and transactional matters with an emphasis on business reorganizations, international insolvency and the acquisition of troubled businesses and assets. Between 1988 and 1993, Judge Heston served as the first Region 18 U.S. Trustee, overseeing bankruptcy cases and fiduciaries in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana. She also is a former law clerk to a federal district court judge and a bankruptcy judge and a former estate administrator of the federal bankruptcy court. Judge Heston taught bankruptcy courses for more than 20 years at both Seattle University School of Law and University of Washington Law School. She is a 2001 Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and an active participant in both professional organizations and community service organizations, and she currently serves or has served in leadership positions for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, ABI, INSOL International, the Washington State Bar Association’s Debtor Creditor Section, the Turnaround Management Association, CARE and CENTS. Judge Heston is a frequent international, national and regional speaker and author on topics including international insolvency issues, creditors’ rights issues, and commercial and consumer insolvency issues. Her recent community service efforts have focused on military and veterans’ financial and bankruptcy-related issues through her service on the Pro Bono Committee of ABI’s Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs Task Force. Judge Heston received her undergraduate degree cum laude from the University of Washington in 1975 and her J.D. cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in 1980.