Michael E. Wiles became a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on March 3, 2015.  Judge Wiles received his A.B. degree from Georgetown University in 1975 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1978.  He joined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as an associate in September 1978 and became a partner in July 1987.  His work at Debevoise focused on general commercial litigation and bankruptcy.  Judge Wiles has presided over many large bankruptcy cases, including Westinghouse, Pacific Drilling, Garrett Motion, McClatchy, Aegean Marine Petroleum, Relativity Media, SAS AB and Voyager Digital.

During his time at Debevoise Judge Wiles was a co-author of a prior edition of the Collier Business Workout Guide (Mathew Bender 2007).  He has appeared on panels organized by the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the American College of Investment Council, the Federal Judicial Center and many other organizations to discuss current bankruptcy issues, and he is a judicial delegate to the Committee on Bankruptcy and Reorganization of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  His publications and written CLE materials before joining the bench included "May Parties Consent to Bankruptcy Court Adjudication of 'Stern Claims'" (September 2014) (presented at a continuing legal education session at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York); “Ponzi Schemes and Avoidance Actions: 3 Issues,” Law360 (March 7, 2011); “The Good Faith Defense to Fraudulent Transfer Claims” (December 2010) (presented at a continuing legal education session at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York); and “At the Crossroads: The Intersection of the Federal Securities Laws and the Bankruptcy Code,” The Business Lawyer (November 2007).