Ten years ago, Wm. Thurmond Bishop retired from his position as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of South Carolina. Judge Bishop was appointed on October 9, 1987. During the period of almost twenty years on the bench, he presided over more than seven hundred Chapter 11 reorganization cases, nearly 3000 adversaries and tens of thousands of other bankruptcy cases and proceedings.<!--break--> Attorneys and litigants in his court were greeted with patience, kindness and the fair administration of justice. In 2004, he was awarded the J. Bratton Davis Award, named for his long-time colleague on the bench, bestowed for unimpeachable integrity, devotion to legal scholarship, civility to all, unfailing professionalism in all ways, and impressive contributions and improvements to the legal profession.
Bishop graduated from Greenwood High School, The Citadel and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He was in the US Army for three years with a tour of duty in Vietnam. He served as County Attorney for Abbeville County and as Public Defender for Abbeville and Greenwood Counties from 1986-1987.
Upon his retirement on February 28, 2006, Bishop returned to the general practice of law in Abbeville. Occasionally he can be seen at the courthouse in Spartanburg on the other side of the bench representing Chapter 7 debtors.