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Rebecca Connelly '88L

Connelly, who is currently a Standing Trustee for the Western District, is the first female to serve as a bankruptcy judge in the State. She was appointed by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals following recommendations by a merit selection panel. The Western District stretches from Winchester to Lynchburg and to the state's western tip. Connelly's chambers will be in Harrisonburg.

Connelly will replace Judge Ross Krumm, who is retiring after 25 years on the bench.

"The Western District has developed a strong reputation of excellence in its handling of bankruptcy cases," said Connelly. "I am honored to join this distinguished bench and hope to build on Judge Krumm's legacy."

The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District has three judges, and Connelly will join the Honorable William E. Anderson and fellow W&L alumnus William F. Stone '68, '70L on the bench. Approximately ten thousand bankruptcy cases are filed each year in the Western District.

Connelly earned a B.A. from the University of Maryland in 1985 and a J.D. from Washington and Lee in 1988. Following law school, she served as law clerk to the Hon. Martin V.B. Bostetter, Jr. and practiced bankruptcy law with firms in Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

In October 2000, she was appointed a Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for individual bankruptcy cases and the Chapter 12 Trustee for farm reorganizations in the Western District of Virginia. As a bankruptcy trustee, Connelly serves as a fiduciary and an adjunct to the bankruptcy courts. She has worked closely with attorneys of both creditors and debtors to ensure that creditors were repaid and that debtors returned to solvency.

Connelly is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees. She is a contributing editor for the American Bankruptcy Institute American Bankruptcy Law Journal and has published numerous articles on bankruptcy law issues in American Bankruptcy Law Journal, Bankruptcy Law News, Virginia Lawyer and Farm Bureau News.

Connelly has served on the Board of Governors for the Virginia State Bar Bankruptcy Law Section and is a frequent speaker at Virginia Continuing Legal Education bankruptcy programs as well as  professional and regional conferences. 

A resident of Lexington, Connelly has served on boards for the Boy Scouts of America Troop 5, the Lexington-Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce, and Rockbridge Area Hospice. She is married to Washington and Lee politics professor William F. Connelly, Jr. and has two children.