Phillip J. Shefferly, a lecturer at Michigan Law, is a retired US bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. He was appointed as a bankruptcy judge in March 2003 and retired as a bankruptcy judge in January 2021. Shefferly served as the bankruptcy court’s chief judge from March 2009 to April 2020.

Before taking the bench, Shefferly worked in private practice with a focus on business reorganizations, commercial litigation, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. While in private practice, he most often represented Chapter 11 debtors but also frequently represented trustees, secured and unsecured creditors, landlords, shareholders, and others.

Shefferly is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and has served as a frequent writer and speaker for the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Federal Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan Debtor-Creditor Section, the Michigan Judicial Institute, and the Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Association.

In January 2021, Shefferly joined the Detroit office of the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service, where he is currently providing services as an arbitrator, mediator, and neutral evaluator for bankruptcy cases and other business-related disputes.