Patricia Williams Nominated To Replace Judge Klobucher She Was Among 40 Applicants For Bankruptcy Court Position

Patricia Williams, a partner in the Winston & Cashatt law firm, has been nominated to replace John Klobucher as judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Spokane.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a final background check, Williams said Thursday. The report should be sent by June 20 to J. Clifford Wallace, chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

If he signs an order confirming her appointment, Williams said, an investiture ceremony is scheduled for July 11. She would start hearing cases Monday, July 14, the day Klobucher has said he wants to step down.

Klobucher has served since 1981.

Williams has worked at Winston & Cashatt almost without interruption since 1971. She interned there while studying law at Gonzaga University, where she graduated in 1975.

After a stint as a legal intern with the City of Spokane following graduation, Williams returned to Winston & Cashatt in 1977.

“I’ll miss the people,” she said. “We’ve spent more time together than we have with our spouses.”

Williams said more than half her caseload involves bankruptcies. Probably the most notable, she said, was the filing by Sun Runner Marine in 1989.

Williams said she was among about 40 applicants for Klobucher’s job once the position was announced. That field was narrowed to nine by a committee of judges, attorneys and others, who forwarded five names to the Circuit Court in San Francisco.

Interviews were held in late February. Williams was notified she was selected a month later.

“I think I was the last person in Eastern Washington to know,” she said, because she was traveling. Even the hotel clerks were aware of her nomination, she said.

Williams, who is the treasurer of the Washington Bar Association, was the first woman president of the Spokane County Bar Association and the first woman certified by the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification.

With bankruptcy caseloads exploding in Spokane and nationally, Williams said she expects a challenge.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do and I’m looking forward to it,” she said.

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