Sherri Lyn Wattenbarger

Attorney

Current Position

Retired federal government lawyer
Overland Park, KS 66202
USA

Sherri retired from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trustee in 2025, where she was a trial attorney in the Kansas City, Missouri, office for 28 years. Prior to joining the UST, Sherri clerked for the Hon. Pasco M. Bowman, II, of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and joined the U.S. Department of Justice through the highly competitive Attorney General’s Honors Program in 1994, serving as a trial attorney in the Civil Division in Washington, D.C. She is a past recipient of the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Community Service, the Roser Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy Law from the Missouri Bar, the Hon. Julie Robinson Award from the District of Kansas Bankruptcy Court, the Distinguished Counselor Award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, the Pro Bono/Public Service Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Foundation, a Women’s Justice Award for Public Service from Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly, and the Woman of the Year Award from the Association of Women Lawyers. In 2018, Governor Laura Kelly appointed Sherri to the Kansas Board of Healing Art where she is currently vice president of the board. She also serves on the advisory boards for the ABI/UMKC Midwestern Bankruptcy Institute, the Kansas City Bankruptcy Bar Association, and the AWL Foundation Connections Mentoring Program. Sherri previously served as chair of the board of the Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City (now known as United We), chair of the board of the C.A.R.E. Program for the Western District of Missouri and the District of Kansas, and chair of the Attorney Advisory Committee for the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri. Sherri graduated first in her class from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1993. She lives in Overland Park, KS, with her husband Brian Beins and their two fur babies.