Congratulations Judge Norton!

Hon. Cynthia A. Norton

Congratulations to our friend and colleague, Cynthia Norton, who was sworn in today as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri. She is pictured here with U.S. District Court Chief Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr., who administered the oath of office to her, and her husband, George Norton.

She will preside over bankruptcy proceedings in Kansas City, St. Joseph, Jefferson City and Springfield, MO. She was appointed to the position by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit following the retirement of the Hon. Jerry W. Venters. A public investiture ceremony is planned for April.

After graduating from the University of Kansas Law School in 1984, Judge Norton clerked for Kansas Court of Appeals Judge John E. Rees. Her career in bankruptcy law began as law clerk for the Hon. James A. Pusateri for the Kansas Bankruptcy Court in Topeka 1986-1989. She worked in several Kansas City bankruptcy firms, then formed a boutique bankruptcy firm, Grimes and Rebein, LC, of Lenexa, with her partner, Steve Rebein, in 1996. She practiced law under her professional name, Cynthia Frogley Grimes.

She is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and a recipient of the 2002 Michael R. Roser Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy. She is the 2012 recipient of the Robert L. Gernon Award for Outstanding Service to Continuing Legal Education in Kansas, recognizing her for her frequent presentations to lawyers, law students, clerks and others on bankruptcy law.

We will miss our friend and colleague in the Kansas bankruptcy bar. Congratulations Judge Norton!