The Court of Common Pleas, Trial Division

The Seal of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

The Trial Division of the Court of Common Pleas has general jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, excluding Family Division or Orphans' Court matters.

The Court of Common Pleas - Trial Division is composed of seventy commissioned judges. The judges in commission are supplemented by the services of senior judges. The Division is divided into two sections - Civil and Criminal. Forty-one commissioned judges are assigned to the criminal programs and twenty-nine are assigned to civil programs. There are approximately one-thousand employees in the many separate departments throughout the Trial Division. The Administrative Judge of the Trial Division is the Honorable Daniel J. Anders. The Supervising Judge of the Criminal Section is the Honorable Rose Marie Defino-Nastasi.

Civil Section

Civil has jurisdiction over actions at law and equity along with appeals from Municipal Court and certain administrative agencies and boards. The Trial Division Civil has jurisdiction over civil claims involving amounts in excess of $10,000. The variety of civil actions that may be brought in the Trial Division Civil include Negligence, Contract and Equity Action.

Criminal Section

Criminal has jurisdiction over all felony cases as well as appeals from Municipal Court for a trial de novo, including a right to a trial by jury. Among the types of cases that fall within the assignments of the Trial Division Criminal are homicide cases, capital PCRA cases and felony cases. The Probation Department and Pretrial Services are included in the Criminal Section of the Division.

Office of the Administrative Judge

The Administrative Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Trial Division, Honorable Daniel J. Anders

ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS - TRIAL DIVISION

Honorable Daniel J. Anders

The Trial Division is led by an Administrative Judge, who is appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and serves at the pleasure of the Supreme Court. On January 1, 2024, Judge Daniel J. Anders was appointed Administrative Judge. As Administrative Judge, he is the approving authority for all administrative matters associated with the Trial Division.

The duties of the Administrative Judge of the Trial Division include but are not limited to:

  • Assignment of judges within the Trial Division, along with designation and use of all rooms assigned to the Division for judicial use, excepting chambers for each judge;
  • Oversight of case management practices in both the civil and criminal sections;
  • Personnel administration within the Trial Division;
  • Preparation and analysis of periodic reports of facts and statistics concerning the disposition of cases;
  • Coordination of the use of technology to expedite the timely disposition of cases;
  • Operation of the First Judicial District's Jury Commission;
  • Administrative oversight of fiscal matters that relate to the Trial Division;
  • Administrative oversight of the Adult Probation and Parole Department.

Contact

Business Hours

  • Monday-Friday: 8am to 5pm
  • Saturday: Closed
  • Sunday: Closed