The Honorable Bernice B. Donald is a nationally recognized retired Federal Judge providing mediation, arbitration, special master, moot court strategy and advisory services in high profile, complex matters in national and international litigation.

Judge Donald retired from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in January, 2023. She was nominated to that position by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by a vote in the Senate on September 6, 2011. Prior to that, Judge Donald sat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. She was appointed to the district court by President William Jefferson Clinton in December 1995. She was sworn into office in January 1996. She previously served as Judge of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee, becoming the first African American woman in the history of the United States to serve as a bankruptcy judge.

As a former judge of the US Court of Appeals, US District Court, and US Bankruptcy Court, Judge Donald tried, decided and authored opinions in all matters that came before the federal courts, particularly in the areas of: appellate, bankruptcy, class actions, corporate contract, employment, insurance, banking & financial institutions, securities, antitrust, trade secrets, pharmaceutical development and licensing, patent and other intellectual property litigation and licensing, merger and acquisition transactions, and partnership disputes.

Her diversified and extraordinary law career acquired in over four decades of private practice and on the bench makes her exceptionally well-qualified to assist parties and their counsel in resolving cases through arbitration, mediation, and other dispute resolution processes.

Her motto is: Each day is a gift from God —the service that we render is our gift to God.