Attorney Ciara L. Rogers participates in the “Roadways to the Bench” Event

Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC Attorney Ciara L. Rogers participated in the “Roadways to the Bench: Who me? A Bankruptcy or Magistrate Judge?” event held at Campbell Law School on April 3, 2023. She was asked to participate in the event because she has served on a Merit Selection Panel that assisted the Fourth Circuit Judicial Council in reviewing and evaluating the applications for appointment as bankruptcy judge.

This second nationwide Roadways to the Bench diversity program was hosted by the federal judiciary, with a particular focus on expanding the pipeline of potential bankruptcy and magistrate judges.

The first Roadways to the Bench event in 2019 was held simultaneously in 19 cities and 16 states across the country and focused primarily, but not exclusively, on the bankruptcy bench. By all accounts, it was a resounding success: ten lawyers who attended that event are now judges!

In 2023, the Roadways to the Bench event was expanded to 38 cities in 27 states and territories. The program began with a live-streamed panel discussion from Washington, D.C., which addressed the multitude of different pathways to the federal bench and the importance of diversity on the bench. Next, there was one to one-and-a-half-hour roundtable discussions in each city, with federal judges, attorneys, and law students discussing pathways to the federal bench and other topics related to being a judge.