Eastern District bankruptcy seat open.

• Author: Anderson, Tony

Byline: Tony Anderson

As Eastern District Chief Bankruptcy Judge Russell A. Eisenberg prepares to retire, the Seventh Circuit is seeking applicants for the bench.

Eisenberg, who has been on the bankruptcy court bench for 16 years, has announced that he intends to retire as of June 30, 2003. In the meantime, the Judicial Council for the Seventh Circuit wants to review applicants so the Court of Appeals can appoint a judge before Eisenberg, 65, leaves the bench.

Collins T. Fitzpatrick, circuit executive for the Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit, explained that the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bankruptcy Court already has a vacancy, which the Court of Appeals can fill this year. The district has four bench positions, but only three seats are currently filled by Judges James E. Shapiro, Margaret Dee McGarity and Eisenberg.

When Judge Charles N. Clevert was appointed as district judge, his seat on the bankruptcy court was never filled. Fitzpatrick explained that Congress asked the Seventh Circuit Judicial Council to look at the caseload and see if the position needed to be filled.

"It was decided that based on the caseload the position did not need to be filled," he said.

From Oct. 1, 2000 to Sept. 30, 2001, 14,059 bankruptcy petitions were filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, according to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. As of Oct. 1, 2001, the district had 13,027 pending...