Prudence Carter Beatty is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York. At the time of her appointment in 1982, Judge Beatty became the fourth woman bankruptcy judge in the Nation. Prior to her appointment, she was a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan.

Judge Beatty earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School.

Judge Beatty is co-author of The Doctrine of Equitable Subordination as Applied to Non-Management Creditors, which was cited by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Noland, 517 U.S. 535, 539 (1996) and From Referee in Bankruptcy to Bankruptcy Judge: A Century of Change in the Second Circuit.

Judge Beatty is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. She is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute where she is an Associate Editor of the ABI Journal.

In her spare time, Judge Beatty volunteers at the International Center in Manhattan tutoring foreigners who are learning to speak English.