Alumna Meredith Grabill (L’06) joins federal bench

A long-time New Orleans bankruptcy lawyer and award-winning pro bono volunteer in the community, Tulane Law alumna Meredith Grabill (L’06) now is officially the Honorable Judge Grabill.

Grabill’s investiture as a federal bankruptcy judge took place Dec. 12 following her appointment in September to the Eastern District of Louisiana. Grabill has practiced bankruptcy and commercial law as well as oil and gas litigation in Louisiana and New York.  Prior to her appointment to the federal bench, Grabill was an attorney at Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard.

In addition to her legal work, Grabill has been widely recognized for her tireless efforts to volunteer in the community through pro bono work in family law -- adoption, custody, interdiction and succession matters. She received the Pro Bono Project’s  Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her work in family law and community assistance and the Pro Bono Publico, Pro Bono Century and Citizen Lawyer Awards from the Louisiana State Bar Association.

In an interview last year, she told Biz New Orleans that “I dedicate my time doing pro bono work to support parents and grandparents in bringing stability to their children’s lives. The small part that I play can really make a lasting, positive impact on families, and I feel that it’s my responsibility as an attorney to contribute to my community in this way.”

She is an adjunct professor of law at Tulane Law School.

While in practice, Grabill served on bankruptcy teams representing a commercial real estate finance firm in bankruptcy, an insurance company in a demutualization and acquisition process, and the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee in an E&P company’s bankruptcy proceedings. 

She also represented a multinational high-tech corporation in antitrust proceedings in multiple countries, a professional players’ association in labor and contract disputes,  insurance and reinsurance companies in contract disputes, and both individuals and corporations in fraudulent transfer and other commercial and oil-and-gas disputes. 

She served as a clerk to the Special Master appointed by the United States Supreme Court to preside over an interstate water-rights dispute. To build upon the skills and experience she gained in her bankruptcy practice, Grabill served as a judicial clerk to Judge Martin Glenn, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, from 2011-2012.

Prior to entering private practice, she served as a judicial clerk to Judge Edith Brown Clement, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge Martin L.C. Feldman, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

While a student at Tulane, Grabill served as Editor In Chief of the Tulane Law Review.  The faculty honored her with the John Minor Wisdom Award for Academic Excellence and Legal Scholarship awarded annually to an outstanding student of the graduating class.  She received her B.A. in Political Science and History from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., in 1997.

Grabill has published articles regarding Chapter 11 venues for distressed oil-and-gas companies as well as state-law oil-and-gas issues.  She has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star (2016) and received the New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Award (2016), as well as the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award (2016). 

She is a member of several professional associations, including the Women’s Energy Network and the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation.