David M. Warren

David M. Warren was appointed as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina on October 4, 2013 and took the oath of office on February 7, 2014. He succeeds Judge J. Rich Leonard who is now the Dean of the Norman A. Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. He was appointed Chief Judge on July 28, 2021.

Judge Warren was a partner at Poyner Spruill LLP in Raleigh and Rocky Mount, NC for over 27 years and concentrated his practice in the areas of bankruptcy and commercial law. Judge Warren received his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Wake Forest University and his Juris Doctorate degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law. After law school he began a two year clerkship with the late Honorable Thomas M. Moore who with the Honorable A. Thomas Small drafted legislation that became Chapter 12 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Judge Warren served on the Panel of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees for the Eastern District of North Carolina for 24 years and is a past Chair of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. He served on the Local Rules Committee for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina for over 10 years and served as Chair for over 7 years.

Judge Warren is a certified specialist in business and consumer bankruptcy law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization and the American Board of Certification.

While in private practice he was recognized as a Tier 1 attorney in the Bankruptcy/Restructuring area for North Carolina by Chambers USA 2009-2013, as a “Legal Elite” in the area of Bankruptcy Law by Business North Carolina magazine in 2006, 2008, 2010-2012 and 2014, and as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyer magazine in 2009-2014. He was also recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization law in 2013 and 2014.

He is a former national president of Kappa Alpha Order, a national college fraternity headquartered in Lexington, VA. He also serves as a trustee of the Kappa Alpha Order Educational Foundation, chair of the Turner W. Battle Scholarship Trust and as a director of DiabetesSisters, a national non-profit organization supporting women with diabetes.

Judge Warren and his wife Keena, who is a certified dental assistant, live in Raleigh. Judge Warren’s chambers are located at the Century Station Post Office and Courthouse in downtown Raleigh.