Jennie D. Latta was born on January 9, 1961, in Memphis, Tennessee, and holds degrees from the University of Memphis (B.A., English, summa cum laude, 1981; J.D., 1986; and Ph.D., Philosophy, 2014) and Saint Meinrad School of Theology (M.A., Catholic Thought and Life, 2003). She was appointed on March 6, 1997, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to succeed Judge Bernice B. Donald as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Tennessee and was reappointed to a second fourteen-year term on February 14, 2011, and to a third fourteen-year term effective March 6, 2025. In 2021, Judge Latta was selected to serve as Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Tennessee for a term of four years by the District Judges of the Western District. Her term as chief bankruptcy judge was extended for one additional year and will expire on April 19, 2026.

Judge Latta served a four-year term on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit from 2003 to 2007, and a three-year term as bankruptcy judge liaison to the Sixth Circuit Judicial Council, as well as Sixth Circuit Governor to the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges from 2020 to 2023. She currently serves as a member of the adjunct faculty at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law teaching Bankruptcy Law. Judge Latta recently contributed an article, “The Bankruptcy Court in West Tennessee,” to the Memphis Lawyer detailing the early to recent history of bankruptcy laws, courts, referees, and notable cases in west Tennessee.