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Judge Brand serves as Chief Judge of the Central District of California Bankruptcy Court for the 2026–2029 term—a four-year term commencing January 1, 2026—and she also served as chief judge of her court beginning in June 2025. She was appointed to the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in 2016, reappointed in 2023, and became Chief Judge of the BAP in May 2025.

Before taking the bench, Judge Brand spent more than two decades in private practice in Los Angeles, focusing on restructuring and insolvency matters. She earned her B.A. from UCLA and her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law.

Hon. Daniel P. Collins is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Arizona (Phoenix), appointed effective January 18, 2013. He previously served as Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Arizona.

Before taking the bench, Judge Collins was a shareholder with Collins, May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie, P.C., practicing primarily in bankruptcy and related commercial matters. He earned both his B.S. in finance and accounting (1980) and J.D. (1983) from the University of Arizona. Judge Collins has held national and professional leadership roles, including serving as 2023 President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.

M. Jonathan Hayes has practiced consumer bankruptcy law in Southern California for 46 years. He took a two-year sabbatical in 2022 - 2023 to clerk for BAP judges Laura Taylor first and then William Lafferty. He is senior counsel at RHM LAW LLP, in Encino, a firm he helped establish 15 years ago. His practice today is primarily bankruptcy appeals, and bankruptcy litigation. He is President of the Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Association for 2026, a 25-year-old organization with approximately 200 members.

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