UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Illinois 60604
PRESS RELEASE
Chief Judge Diane P. Wood of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is pleased to announce the appointment of Judge James R. Ahler to a 14-year term as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana to sit in Hammond. He will replace Bankruptcy Judge Philip J. Klingeberger, who will retire on June 15, 2017.
Judge Ahler earned his bachelor=s degree from Indiana University-Bloomington and his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. He was admitted to practice in Indiana in 1997 and in Illinois in 2000.
In 2007 Judge Ahler was appointed and then elected and reelected to the Jasper County Superior Court in Renesselaer, Indiana, where he handles criminal and civil cases. Prior to being a judge he practiced in both state and federal courts specializing in commercial litigation, appellate, and criminal defense. After law school he was a law clerk for Circuit Judges Michael Kanne and William Bauer.
Judge Ahler serves as a panelist at continuing legal education seminars and a judge at moot court programs. He is a frequent lecturer at the Indiana judges conferences. He serves annually as a mock trial judge and legal training speaker for nurses working to obtain their S.A.N.E. (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) certification. He teaches law and state government at junior and senior high schools. He has also served as a guest lecturer for the Jasper County Police Department on the topics of search and seizure and trial procedure.
Judge Ahler is the current chair of the Indiana Judicial Community Relations Committee, a member of the Indiana Judicial Strategic Planning Committee, Indiana Public Defender Commission, Indiana Judges Association, American Bar Association, Indiana State Bar Association, Jasper County Bar Association and the Seventh Circuit Bar Association
He has received certificates for completing the Indiana Graduate Program for Judges and the Indiana Judicial College.