Judicial Art and History of City Hall

The Honorable Edward J. Blake was a graduate of St. Joseph's Preparatory School, the Pennsylvania Maritime Academy, St. Joseph's University, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Upon graduation from law school, he worked as a sole practitioner until 1961. For the next three years he served as Chief Deputy Administrator for the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions in Philadelphia County. From 1964 until his appointment to the bench, Judge Blake was the Court Administrator for Philadelphia. Judge Blake was the first Court Administrator of the Court of Common Pleas serving under former President Judge Vincent Carroll. He was appointed to the bench of the Court of Common Pleas in 1971, elected in 1973, and retained in 1983. Judge Blake was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to the post of Administrative Judge of the Trial Division of the Court of Common Pleas in 1986 and maintained that post until he was elected President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas by the Board of Judges on December 18th, 1990. Judge Blake retired from the bench in January of 1996.

Judge Blake was a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, the Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia, the Men of Malvern, the Knights of Columbus Christopher Council, and a former member of many committees of the Board of Judges.

He was also a member of the Criminal Justice Committee of St. Joseph's University, the American Judicature Society, the National Association of Trial Court Administrators, the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, the National Conference of Metropolitan Courts, the Cardinal's Committee of the Laity, St. Joseph's University Advisory Council, the Brehon Law Society, and the Irish Society.

Judge Bonavitacola graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Temple University in 1953 and he earned his Juris Doctorate from Temple Law School in 1956. Bonavitacola served as an assistant city solicitor and trial attorney in Philadelphia before being elected to the judiciary for the Court of Common Pleas in 1973. He was subsequently retained in 1983 and 1993. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania appointed him Administrative Judge of the Trial Division of the First Judicial District in the summer of 1992.

While serving as Administrative Judge of the Trial Division, Judge Bonavitacola developed the "Day Backward/Day Forward" programs to reduce case backlog within the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. His approach to managing case inventory relied on setting fixed deadlines for trial preparation at the inception of a lawsuit. The program received national recognition because it reduced the enormous number of old lawsuits clogging Philadelphia courts. As a result of Judge Bonavitacola's efforts, a courts system that was notorious for delays was transformed into a model of judicial efficiency.

Judge Bonavitacola was also largely responsible for encouraging the use of new technologies in the Court of Common Pleas, as well as for establishing a place for the Court on the internet with the launch of the Philadelphia court system's official website http://courts.phila.gov. Up until the 1990s, the court still utilized typewriters and rotary phones as the means of conducting everyday business. Possessing a keen awareness of the importance of emerging technologies, Judge Bonavitacola used new forms of internet communication to benefit the courts mission and bolster its presence.

In March of 1996, shortly after being elected President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania appointed Judge Bonavitacola Chairman of the Governing Board of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. As Chairman, he was responsible for the governance of Philadelphia's Common Pleas, Municipal, and Traffic Courts. In 2001, at the conclusion of his five-year term, he was succeeded by Frederica Massiah Jackson as President Judge. He retired from the bench in 2005.

Judge Bonavitacola was also the recipient of numerous awards over the course of his esteemed career. In 1996, he received the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association. In December of 2001, he was again recognized by the Philadelphia Bar Association when he was presented with the prestigious Bar Award for his lifelong commitment to the bench, the bar, and the cause of justice. Also in 2001, the Law Library of the First Judicial District, located on the sixth floor of Philadelphia's City Hall, was dedicated to Judge Bonavitacola.

Judge Bradley received his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950 and his LL.B. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1953. He was appointed as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania on August 9, 1965. He was subsequently elected to a full term in 1965 and reelected in November 1975. Judge Bradley was elected President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas on April 11, 1975. He was retained as President Judge on April 11, 1980 and again in 1985.

Judge Bradley is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Lawyer's Club of Philadelphia, the American Judiciary Society, the American Judges Association, the Justinian Society, the Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute, the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, and the Order Sons of Italy.

Judge Carroll was nominated to serve as the Court of Common Pleas' first President Judge in 1968. He continued to serve as President Judge until his retirement in 1970.

Judge Cipriani obtained his Juris Doctorate from Temple University Law School. Upon graduating law school, Judge Cipriani was drafted into the Army where he served his country as a Provost Marshal in the United States Army Medical Corps at a military hospital in Illinois. In 1946, he was discharged at the rank of Second Lieutenant and then returned to Philadelphia where he began work as an attorney. In 1969, Judge Cipriani ran for a seat on the bench in Philadelphia. He ran as a Republican, the political party of his father, a GOP Chairman, and was elected to the position. Judge Cipriani served for 36 years in the Family Court Division. He was a notable advocate of children, and even in his retirement, served as a part-time hearing master in the floating truancy court, a joint venture between the Philadelphia School Board and the Truancy Office of the Family Court. In addition to his work in Family Court, Judge Cipriani served as an instructor at the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission Master's Degree Program at Shippensburg University.

Judge Cipriani also made numerous contributions to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Shortly after becoming Administrative Judge of the Family Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas, court procedures were become increasingly inadequate as a means of providing effective administration of cases as a result of the requirements of the changing laws and the increase in juvenile delinquency. On top of these problems, the Court also lacked substantial funding to implement changes. To combat this problem, Judge Cipriani came up with the practical and economical idea to appoint a committee, The Stakeholders Committee, which included representatives of the Court, the State Department of Welfare, the Juvenile Aid Division of Philadelphia, and numerous other groups involved in the welfare of children in Philadelphia. The court adopted the recommendations of the committee and the court system was vastly improved. There was no cost to the court or city.

The other highlight of Judge Cipriani's career was his appointment by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges as Chairman of the Committee of Metropolitan Courts in the United States. The committee was charged to study problems of the Juvenile Court and serious offenders. Judges from 23 states attended, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges published the results of their meeting in their journal: "The Juvenile Court and Serious Offenders - 38 Recommendations."

Judge Cipriani was an active member of both the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations. He also served on multiple committees in Education and Family Law. He also participated in and chaired multiple committees and task force efforts for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, and various state-level commissions. Judge Cipriani's work on domestic relations, spousal support, child support and enforcement, permanency planning, service delivery to youth, adoption, and the rights of children earned him numerous accolades throughout his career. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth's Wilbur Hobbs "True Friend of Children" Award in 2005. In addition, the Nicholas A. Cipriani Family Law American Inn of Court, whose purpose is to promote professionalism, ethics, camaraderie and education among the bench and bar, was named in his honor.

Judge Cipriani died February 5th, 2008.

President Judge Dembe earned her undergraduate degree from Temple University in 1972. Upon graduating, she attended Temple University School of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate in 1977.

She has served on the Court of Common Pleas since January of 1990. Prior to her tenure as the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Judge Dembe worked as a judge in Felony Waivers, the Trial Division, and Civil Motions Court. In 2004, Judge Dembe was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as Coordinating Judge of the Major Criminal Section. In 2007, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed her as the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Section of the Trial Division of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. Since November 12, 2008, she has served as the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania.

Judge Dembe is a Past President of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, the Brehon Law Society, and the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Presently, she is a Trustee and Secretary of the Board of the Free Library of Philadelphia, an officer of the Temple Inn of Court, and a member of the Board of Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia. She is chair of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee of the Board of Judges of the First Judicial District. She has also served on the Disaster Planning Committee of the First Judicial District.

She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges, the Brandeis Law Society, the Union League of Philadelphia, the Corinthian Yacht Club, the Athenaeum, the Forum of Executive Women and of the of the American, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia Bar Associations. She is the immediate past Chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Co-Chair of the Judicial Administration Committee.

Judge Diaz earned his undergraduate degree from St. John's University and his law degree from Temple University's Beasley School of Law. Over the course of his career, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law by St. John's University; honorary doctorates of public service from Temple University, LaSalle University, Albright College, and Lincoln University. He was also awarded a Certificate on Mediation and Arbitration from Pepperdine University Law School's Stratus Institute for Dispute Resolution.

Judge Diaz served as a judge for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas from 1981 through 1993. He was the youngest judge elected to the Court at the time and the first Latino judge in Pennsylvania history. He was also appointed Administrative Judge by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. During his career, Judge Diaz served as City Solicitor of Philadelphia. He was also appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition, Judge Diaz was also a White House Fellow, serving as Special Assistant to Vice President Walter Mondale. In May 2007, Judge Diaz joined Cozen O'Conner's Philadelphia office as Of Counsel in the General Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice on matters involving litigation, dispute resolution, public housing issues, and government relations.

Judge Diaz is also a member of the Board of Directors of Exelon Corporation, the Advisory Board of PNC, and the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Temple University, where he also served on the University's Presidential Search Committee. In addition, he is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee's Hispanic Caucus. He is also the co-chair of the annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, a member of Philadelphia Children's Commission and the Executive and Nominating Committees of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is also Vice Chair of the Visitors Bureau Multicultural Affairs Congress.

Judge Diaz has received numerous awards over the course of his career. He has been presented with The Association for Independent Growth Foundation's Civic Leadership Award, the American Bar Association's 2001 Spirit of Excellence Award, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence, and several civil rights and management awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has also been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Hispanic Americans by Hispanic Business and has been named to multiple Who's Who lists, including those for the East, World, Hispanic-Americans, Law, Law Enforcement, Delaware Valley, and American Politics.

Bibliography
http://www.cozen.com/attorney_detail.asp?d=1&atid=1004

Judge Doty was appointed to the bench in 1958. He was elected Administrative Judge of the Trial Division of the Trial Division in 1968 and reelected in 1974. Judge Doty retired from the Court of Common Pleas bench in the fall of 1996. At the time of his retirement, Judge Doty presided over mass tort litigation at the Complex Litigation Center.

Justice Dougherty earned his bachelor's degree from Temple University in 1985. Upon graduating, he attended Antioch School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctorate. From 1989 to 1990, he was an associate in private practice after being admitted to the bar of the Courts of the Commonwealth. From 1990 to 1995, he was an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia County. From 1995 to 2001, he was a partner in a private practice. From 1998 to 2000, he served as a special master in the Philadelphia Family Court Truancy Program. In 1999, he was admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In 2001, he was appointed as Judge of the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court and he was elected in 2002. In 2003, Justice Dougherty was appointed supervising judge of the Philadelphia Family Court Juvenile Division.

Appointed Administrative Judge, Trial Division, Philadelphia County, 2014-2015

Justice Dougherty has also served on many prestigious committees during his career. He was a member of the Gender Bias Implementation Committee in 2003. Also in that year, he was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to serve on the Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee. In 2003, he was appointed by Governor Ed Rendell to the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission and was reappointed to the commission by Governor Rendell in 2004. Also in 2004, Justice Dougherty was appointed by Philadelphia Mayor John Street to be a member of the Children's Commission of Distinguished Leaders in Philadelphia.

In 2015 Justice Kevin M. Dougherty was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Judge Field began her undergraduate study at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. However, she later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where she earned her Bachelor's Degree in 1959, her Juris Doctorate in 1963, and a master's degree in law in 1972.

Judge Field began her legal career in the Family Court Division as an Assistant District Attorney from 1965 to 1978. During this time, she also served as counsel to the Equal Opportunity Commission of Philadelphia and to the Philadelphia Civil Service Commission. In addition, she initiated and organized the first mayor's Office of Consumer Services. While she was working for the law firm of Barbara and Edward Silver, Judge Field ran for a seat on the bench. In 1991, she was elected to the Court of Common Pleas. Beginning in 2001, she began her term as the Administrative Judge of Family Court, overseeing court cases involving dependency, delinquency, adoption, custody, child support, and domestic violence. By the time she became an Administrative Judge, Judge Field had worked in every division of the Court of Common Pleas with the exception of Orphans' Court. In 2006, Judge Field's five-year term as Administrative Judge concluded and she became a senior judge.

During her tenure as a Common Pleas' judge, Judge Field did much to improve the quality of the court system. As Administrative Judge of Family Court, Judge Field instituted night hours at Family Court so that working parents and spouses could attend court sessions. In addition, in conjunction with the Field Center, Judge Field improved access to the court by providing improved waiting rooms for families in order to provide them with privacy, quiet, and a place for children to play while they waited for their hearing. She also helped to create visual posters so that families could understand the processes of the court and better navigate the system. Judge Field also focused on helping young people become economically self-sufficient so they could support their families. Along with Educational Data Systems, Inc., she enrolled many young men in job training so they could begin careers. She was also instrumental in collecting child support for Philadelphia's children, earning a commendation from the National Child Support Association and the award of Judge of the Year in 2004.

Judge Field was also president of the Society Hill Civic Association and a member of numerous legal organizations. In her private life, Judge Field traveled the world with her husband. Together, they traveled to locales such as Iceland and Nepal, where they notably scaled mountains.

Judge Field passed away in April 24th, 2007 at the age of 71.

After earning his law degree from Villanova University's School of Law, Justice Fitzgerald worked in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. He remained there for twelve years, where he was in charge of thirty-three ADAs as Chief of the Felony Waiver, Municipal Court, and Police Advisory Units. Following a campaign for Philadelphia City Controller, Justice Fitzgerald served as Chief Counsel to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, followed by a four-year stint with a private law firm trying civil cases, and four years as Executive Vice President for Government Affairs at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Justice Fitzgerald was appointed to the bench of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 1989. In 2001, he was appointed Administrative Judge of the Trial Division by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On February 13th, 2007, Justice Fitzgerald was nominated by Governor Edward G. Rendell to serve as a Justice on The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. After his unanimous confirmation by the Pennsylvania Senate, he was sworn in as an interim Justice.

He has also served as Liaison Justice for the Supreme Court Mental Health Task Force. On January 7th, 2008, he was appointed by Chief Justice Castille as co-chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Judicial Independence along with Chief Justice Emeritus John P. Flaherty. Currently, Justice Fitzgerald is serving as a Senior Judge on The Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Justice Fitzgerald is also an active participant in many other activities and associations. Specifically, he has served as the President of the J. Willard O'Brien Villanova Law Inn of Court; Chair for the Strategic Planning Committee for Jenkins Law Library; Member of the Administrative Governing Board, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; Member of Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee; Vice President of Philadelphia Flag Day Association; Member of Brehon Law Society; Treasurer of St. Thomas More Society; and on the Board of Trustees at Springside School.

Justice Fitzgerald has also been the recipient of numerous awards and honors over the course of his esteemed career. He has been honored with the Brehon Law Society Award for Lifetime of Achievement in the Law and the Award for Judicial Excellence, the Philadelphia Flag Day Association's Annual Citizens Award, the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society Award, and the Alumni Award of Merit from the University of Pennsylvania.

Judicial:

Judge Herron was elected to the bench in November, 1987 and re-elected to a second and third term thereafter. In over 30 years on the bench, he has performed at various times every judicial assignment in both the criminal and civil programs.

From January, 1996 to February, 2002, and again in November, 2011 to October, 2014, Judge Herron was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania as the Administrative Judge of the Trial Division where he supervised 70 judges assigned to the Civil and Criminal Programs, as well as approximately 1,000 Court employees in the largest of three divisions of the Court. His three Administrative Judge terms are noteworthy as no other judge served more than two terms while at the same time managing an active trial calendar.

As Administrative Judge of the Trial Division, he worked to modernize and streamline the civil complaint, motion and discovery filing processes, initiated a Commercial Law Civil Trial Program and organized the Court into judicial teams, a greatly improved method for achieving significant dispositions of cases. Among the many accomplishments under his tenure were the reduction of the civil major jury backlog from 13,000 cases to 6,500; reduction in time to trial from 5-7 years to 2-3 years; improved community acceptance of jury service; relocation of the 600 member Probation and Pretrial Divisions to a new functionally designed building, and reorganization of the Department for enhanced parole and probation services. His administration has been widely lauded for innovations that improved both the efficiency of the court and the treatment of those who come before it.

The Commerce Program created by Judge Herron in 2000 was then and remains today the only such program in Pennsylvania and has been universally hailed and recognized for its excellence. Judge Herron served as one of the two judges in this program and authored over 150 opinions while performing the assignment. In 2012, he reorganized the Mass Tort Program in the civil courts and was recognized for the balanced reform effort in a law review article, "Litigation Tourism in Pennsylvania: Is Venue Reform Needed?" 22 Widener L.J. 29 (2013).

In December, 2011, during his second term as Administrative Judge, he also was appointed Chair of the Administrative Governing Board of all courts and served three consecutive terms. Throughout this period, he maintained a full docket of probate matters in addition to his substantial administrative duties. On his watch, the Court for the first time achieved a zero based budget and ceased deficit spending.

From 2009 to 2012, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed him Special Master over all casino/gaming issues in Philadelphia resolving numerous disputes between the City and SugarHouse Casino.

Non-Judicial:

Prior to judicial service, Judge Herron was an associate in a large Philadelphia law firm (1969-1971); an Assistant District Attorney (1971-1972) under Arlen Spector; Disciplinary Counsel for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's Disciplinary Board and eventually serving as Deputy and Chief Disciplinary Counsel (1973-1985); and Deputy District Attorney for investigations (1986-1987) under Ronald Castille, former Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Activities, Awards, Memberships:

Judge Herron has appeared frequently as a lecturer and panelist in various continuing legal education programs and has taught law school courses at Beasley Law School in both Professional Responsibility and Trial Advocacy for six years. From 1993 to 1996, he served as a gubernatorial appointee to the constitutionally created Judicial Conduct Board. He has held memberships as a Master in both the Temple Inn of Court and the University of Pennsylvania Law School Inn of Court, and is a past member of the Junior Legal Club. In 2012, he was elected to membership in the American College of Business Court Judges.

He has received numerous awards including the American Legion Service Award (1999), the Philadelphia Bar Association Person of the Year (1998), received the Pennsylvania Bar Association's highest rating in 2003 "Exceptionally Well Qualified", and was named the Philadelphia Bar Association’s distinguished jurist (Brennan Award, 2011).

Judge Herron received a B.A. from Duke University in 1966 and a J.D. from Dickinson Law School in 1969.

Judge Jamieson was a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After service in the army, he spent several years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. After 12 years of private law practice, he was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas in 1965 by Governor William Scranton and elected unanimously by his fellow Judges to serve as the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District in 1970.

During his tenure as President Judge, Judge Jamieson was noted for his leadership in court reform. He received numerous awards and recognition of his efforts including, inter alia, the American Judicature Society's Herbert Harley Award and the Good Government Award of the Committee of Seventy. While he was still an active judge, he was also honored for being elected to the prestigious Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts.

Active in civic affairs, Judge Jamieson served as President of the Citizens Crime Commission of Philadelphia, Chairman of the Board of Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Frankford Hospital. He was also a member of the Advisory Board to the Philadelphia Council of the Boy Scouts of America and was a member of the Commission to Preserve Legal Services for All.

He has also served as Chairman of the Philadelphia Bar Association Commission on Judicial Selection, Retention and Evaluation, the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association, and served as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on the Judicial Code.

Judge C. Darnell Jones was named President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County in December 2005. He served as President Judge from January 2006 to October 2008, when he was commissioned as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. At the time Judge Jones was elected President Judge, he had already served as a judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for eighteen years, spending six years in the civil division and twelve years in the criminal division. During this time Judge Jones served as presiding judge in the Homicide Division, Major Civil Trial Division, and Commerce Case Management Program. He also served as managing judge of the Adult Probation and Parole Department, as a member of the Judicial Education Committee, and as a Supervising Judge of the Philadelphia County Grand Jury.

Judge Jones graduated from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1975 with his Juris Doctorate degree. Immediately after law school, Judge Jones served with the Defenders Association of Philadelphia. Shortly after, he became Assistant Chief, and then Chief, of the Family Court Division, representing indigent juvenile defendants charged with delinquent, criminal offences. Governor Casey appointed him to be a judge and he was elected to the judiciary for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 1987. He was retained in 1997, and began his term as President Judge in 2006.

Judge Jones succeeded Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson as President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia. Expanding the use of courtroom technology, improving the public perception of Family Court judges, and making Philadelphia a leader in judicial education were some of the goals Judge Jones hoped to achieve during his tenure as the President Judge. In addition, shortly after his election as President Judge, C. Darnell Jones was appointed Chair of the Administrative Governing Board of the First Judicial District by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

During his tenure as President Judge, Jones was instrumental in the creation of the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Division Pilot Program for Philadelphia County, which was launched in April of 2008. Responding to an economic downturn and sharp increase in owner-occupied home foreclosures, the program used mandated negotiations between mortgage lenders and homeowners to prevent delinquent premises from going to Sheriff Sale. Currently overseen by Judge Annette Rizzo, the program continues to help Philadelphia County residents resolve their foreclosure cases and keep their homes.

Two years into his term as President Judge, Jones was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve in the U.S. District Court for the eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Jones was confirmed by the Senate in September 2008, and received his commission in October 2008. Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe succeeded Judge Jones as President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County in December 2008.

In addition to his duties as a jurist, Judge Jones has been an active educator since 1991, teaching at St. Joseph's University's Graduate School, Temple University's Beasley School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania's Law School, The National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and The National Judicial College.

In 2006, Judge Jones was elected to the Board of Directors of the American College of Business Court Judges. In 2008, he was appointed to the Board of Advisors at the Earl Mack School of Law at Drexel University and the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army.

Judge Jones has also received numerous awards and honors, including the Thurgood Marshall Award for Excellence and the Brandeis Law Society Award for Community Service.

Judge Keogh received his undergraduate degree from LaSalle University and his Juris Doctorate from Mercer University Law School. After spending seven years in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and thirteen years in private practice, Judge Keogh was appointed to the bench of the Court of Common Pleas in 1991. He served as section leader for major felony prosecutions before being assigned to the major trial section of the Civil Trial Division in 2001. Judge Keogh has served as the Administrative Judge of the Trial Division since 2007.

Judge Keogh has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges three times. In 1985, and again in 1996, he was appointed to the House of Delegates for the Pennsylvania Bar Ashsociation. Since 1996, e has served as the Governor's appointee to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency's Deputy Sheriff's Education and Training Board. On November 16th, 2004, Judge Keogh was the recipient of the prestigious John Peter Zenger Award in recognition of his outstanding judicial service.

Judge Klein received his Juris Doctorate from Temple University School of Law. Upon graduating from law school, he served as special counsel for the Banking Department under Attorney General William Schnader and Governor Gifford Pinchot. He was appointed to the Orphan's Court on December 24th, 1934 by Gov. Pinchot, becoming the youngest judge in the Commonwealth. In January 1952, he became President Judge of the Orphans' Court, and served in that role until the consolidation of the courts by the adoption of constitutional amendments in 1968, at which point he became Administrative Judge of the Orphans' Court Division of the United Common Pleas Court. He served in that capacity until he became a senior judge in January, 1976. He served as a judge in the Orphans' Court division of the Common Pleas Court for 56 years, a period which was longer than any other judge in Philadelphia's history.

Among his noteworthy cases as an Orphans' Court judge was a disposition of the estate of snuff fortune heiress Henrietta E. Garrett in which he issued the longest final adjudication in probate history, 379 pages long. He presided over multiple issues involving Girard College, including the admission of females and "functional orphans." He presided over cases involving the separation of Graduate Hospital from the University of Pennsylvania, the half-billion dollar John J. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Balch Foundation, among many others.

He was also the first Orphans' Court judge to volunteer for summer duty in the criminal courts and heard over 100 homicide cases. He presided over cases on his 90th birthday.

He was a member of numerous prestigious boards and committees. He went on the Board of Trustees of Temple University in 1937 and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees in the 1960s. Also, along with President Millard Gladfelter, he engineered the State Relationship of Temple with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Temple University Law School Building is named after him.

Judge Massiah-Jackson earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Judge Massiah-Jackson served as a law clerk to Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. and then as an attorney at Blank Rome Comisky and McCauley. At Blank Rome she practiced in the areas of anti-trust and securities law, as well as corporate, commercial, and civil litigation. In 1983, she was elected to the judiciary for the Court of Common Pleas and she sat in both the Civil Trial Division and Major Felony Criminal Division. President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Massiah-Jackson for the Federal Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1997.

Massiah-Jackson began her term as President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia in 2001. In 2003, Judge Massiah-Jackson introduced a program which aimed to improve the quality of representation for poor defendants facing the death penalty. Responding to increased federal scrutiny of Philadelphia death penalty cases and to the recommendations issued by the American Bar Association, Judge Massiah-Jackson improved the fairness of death penalty sentencing by assigning an additional penalty phase lawyer to assist court-appointed defense attorneys in murder trials.

The "two counsel" program Judge Massiah-Jackson implemented gives defendants a way to conduct proper mitigation investigations for the sentencing phase of their trials. Single defense attorneys often could not perform these investigations alone, leading to ineffective representation. Before the introduction of a second attorney, the death sentences handed down in these cases were often overturned on appeal. Judge Massiah-Jackson described the program as yet another step toward reaching the court's ultimate goal of being fair and providing justice.

Shortly after being elected President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County in November 2000, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania appointed Judge Massiah-Jackson as the Chair of the Governing Board of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. As Chair, she was responsible for the governance of Philadelphia's Common Pleas, Municipal, and Traffic Courts. In 2006, at the conclusion of her five-year term, Judge C. Darnell Jones succeeded Judge Massiah-Jackson as President Judge. Judge Massiah-Jackson currently sits in the Civil Trial Division of the Court of Common Pleas.

Outside her service with the judiciary, Judge Massiah-Jackson works with a wide range of academic and community organizations. Since 1992, she has lectured at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She has also served on the board of managers of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the board of directors of Chestnut Hill College, the board of governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the boards of the National Catholic Educational Association and Center for Literacy. Additionally, she has sat on committees for the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial of Philadelphia.

Judge Mirarchi received both his undergraduate degree and his Juris Doctorate from Temple University, in 1944 and 1948 respectively. After graduating, he founded a general practice law firm with his father that grew into the four partner firm Mirarchi, DeFino, and Coppolino. He left the firm in 1971 when he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, where he spent the first 23 years of his 33-year career as a judge. During this time, he presided over both criminal trials, including 5 years in the Homicide Section, and complex civil litigation. After stepping down from the bench, Judge Mirarchi began handling mediation cases. Judge Mirarchi is also a long-time member of the Board of Overseers and adjunct faculty member at Widener Law.

Justice Montemuro received his undergraduate degree from Temple University and his L.L.B. from Duke University Law School. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Navy amphibian forces in the Pacific.

Justice Montemuro was appointed as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County in 1964. He was subsequently elected to a ten-year term in 1965. In 1968, he was chosen as the Administrative Judge of the Family Court Division of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. He served in that role until he was appointed to the Superior Court in 1980, and thereafter in 1983 elected for a ten-year term as the nominee of both parties. He has served on the Pennsylvania Judicial Inquiry and Review Board.

Following appointment by Governor Robert Casey, Justice Montemuro served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1992 through 1996, when he was appointed Senior Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He then sat as Senior Judge of the Superior Court.

Justice Montemuro received the distinction of being appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to implement the unified statewide court system. Additionally, his report in which he recommended a four-phase transition to state funding of the unified statewide court system has been implemented by the Pennsylvania Legislature.

He has served as both State and National President of the Order Sons of Italy in America. In addition, he received the Papal Honor of Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory from Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Judge O'Keefe earned his undergraduate degree from Saint Joseph's University in 1966 and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University School of Law in 1973. He is a former Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and a former General Counsel of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. He was elected as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1983, retained in 1993, and again in 2003. He was appointed as the Administrative Judge of the Orphans' Court of the First Judicial District in December of 2000.

Judge O'Keefe is a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, the Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia, the Brehon Law Society, the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, the Saint Joseph's University Law Alumni Association, the Center City Residents' Association, and the American Judges' Association.

He is a board member of the Administrative Governing Board of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania and the Jenkins Law Library. He is also a former member of the Supreme Court Orphans' Court Rules Committee. In 1993, Judge O'Keefe received Saint Joseph's University's Francis X. McClenahan award.

Judge Paul P. Panepinto attended Villanova University on a full academic scholarship. He graduated Villanova in 1971. He received his Juris Doctorate from the Widener University School of Law in 1976.

Judge Panepinto was appointed as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1990. He was subsequently elected in 1991 and retained in 2001. He held the position of Administrative Judge of Family Court of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania from 1996 to 2000.

Judge Panepinto is a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Association, the Justinian Society, the Lawyers Club of Philadelphia, and the Sons of Italy. He is also a board member of the Widener Law School Alumni.

Judge Panepinto was appointed to the Committee of Judicial Discipline from 2003 to 2007. He also acted as the Coordinating Judge of Complex Litigation on the Civil Trial Division in 2006 and 2007.

Judge Pawelec earned his B.S. at Villanova University in 1953 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1956. He was commissioned as a judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on January 3, 1972 where he worked in the Orphans' Court Division. He was subsequently elected Administrative Judge of the Orphans' Court Division and he began his term on January 5, 1976. He served as the Administrative Judge of the Orphans' Court Division until 1991.

Judge Kathryn Streeter Lewis was appointed as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District in 1988, elected in 1989, and retained in 1999. During her tenure as a Common Pleas Judge, she worked in the Trial, Family, and Orphans' Court Divisions of the Court. In the Family Court Division, she was assigned to preside over cases involving juvenile delinquency, dependency, and domestic relations. She also developed an ad hoc program to visit juvenile residential facilities in order to facilitate appropriate placement of juveniles. Subsequently, she was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to serve as the Administrative Judge of the Orphans' Court Division from 1992 to 1996. In Orphans' Court, she presided over cases involving wills, trusts, and guardianships. In the Trial Division, Judge Streeter Lewis presided over criminal cases involving homicide and major felonies, both jury and non-jury. She also supervised special grand jury investigations from March 10th, 2004 through March 8th, 2006.

Since 1997, Judge Streeter Lewis has worked to train judges on matters concerning Guardianship and Probate while serving as a faculty member of the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada - Reno. Since 1989, Judge Streeter Lewis has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Villanova University School of Law where she teaches a course entitled "Introduction to Trial Advocacy," which develops students' skills in trial preparation, techniques, and tactics.

Since 2008, Judge Streeter Lewis has also acted as the Executive Director of the Homemaker Service of the Metropolitan Area, Inc, a non-profit corporation which provides home healthcare services to disabled and elderly people residing in their homes in Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

Judge Sylvester attended Rosemont College and earned her Juris Doctorate at Villanova Law School. Before embarking on a career on the bench, Judge Sylvester was a trial lawyer for twenty-one years in private practice. She also served eight years in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, two years as Chief Counsel to the Philadelphia Police Department, and one year as Acting President at her alma mater, Rosemont College. In addition, Judge Sylvester spent four years as Vice President and Corporate Counsel and Secretary for Greate Bay Hotel and Casino, Inc.

In January 1986, Judge Sylvester was commissioned as a judge for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and she was reelected in January 1996 to a second ten-year term as a Common Pleas' judge.

In July 1992, Judge Sylvester was appointed to the position of Administrative Judge of the Family Court Division. She served in this capacity until March 1996. In 1996, Judge Sylvester was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to serve on the Court of Judicial Discipline, and in 1999, she was elected President Judge by the members of the Court of Judicial Discipline.

Judge Sylvester served on the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission from 1992 until 1996, the Supreme Court Domestic Relations Rules Commission from 1992 until 1996, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession from 1996 to 1998. As part of her work with Family Court, Judge Sylvester convened a task force of child welfare advocates to create ways to make the Philadelphia Family Court more efficient. In 2000, she began a comprehensive reorganization which included the creation of the Dependent Court Operations Office which is now exclusively in charge of dependent matters. The purpose was to decrease the caseload of individual judges, allowing judges to spend more time with their cases.

Judge Sylvester was also instrumental in creating the Court Appointed Special Advocate program for the Philadelphia Family Court. In 2001, the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges awarded Judge Sylvester with the "Golden Crowbar Award" for her case management in the First Judicial District. The award recognized her significant contributions to effective management of cases. Judge Sylvester is also a member of the Justinian Society and the Order of Sons of Italy.

Judge Tucker graduated from Temple University with her Bachelor's Degree in 1973. She received her Juris Doctorate from Temple in 1976. Judge Tucker started her career as a law clerk for Pennsylvania Common Pleas Judge Lawrence Prattis from 1976 to 1978 before spending one year as a private practice attorney licensed in the State of Pennsylvania. From 1978 to 1986, Judge Tucker served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. During this time period, she also served as an adjunct professor for the Great Lakes Colleges Association during the period of 1984 to 1985. From 1986 to 1987, Judge Tucker was the senior trial attorney for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Legal Department. In 1987, Judge Tucker began her tenure as a Judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. During her tenure in the Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court, Judge Tucker served in the Family Court Division and the Criminal and Civil sections of the Trial Division. She left the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas at the conclusion of her term as the Administrative Judge of Orphan's Court in 2000. In 1999, Tucker was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as a Federal Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. After her conformation by the U.S. Senate on May 24th, 2000, she was sworn into her current post.

As a member of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania National and American Bar Associations, Judge Tucker has chaired and worked on numerous committees. She has also received numerous meritorious distinguished service awards for her significant contributions to the community. Judge Tucker is also a board member of The Avenue of the Arts, Incorporated.

Judge Zaleski received his undergraduate degree from LaSalle University in 1959 and his Juris Doctorate from Temple University Law School in 1963. Subsequently, he attended Temple University Graduate School of Law and graduated in 1966. Prior to his judicial appointment, he practiced law in the Philadelphia area as an Assistant Counsel for the School District of Philadelphia for eight years and as a Special Assistant Attorney General for one year.

He was appointed as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the first Judicial District of Pennsylvania in December 1971. On January 1, 1974, he was elected for a ten-year term. He was reelected to ten-year terms two more times during his tenure, on January 1, 1984 and January 1, 1994, respectively. During his time as a Common Pleas Judge, he presided over Family Court cases, including, but not limited to, adoptions, custody, divorce, paternity, and child support. He was also appointed by the Supreme Court to preside over cases arising in other counties. Notably, Judge Zaleski served as the Administrative Judge of the Family Court Division from July 1, 1989 to July 1, 1992. While acting as the Administrative Judge of the Family Court Division he supervised 22 Judges, 800 emplouees, a budget of $25,000,000 and support collections of $100,000,000. He retired from the bench on January 1, 2004.

Judge Zaleski received numerous appointments over the course of his career. He was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey to the Juvenile Court Judges Commission in September 1990. He was also appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the Supreme Court Rules Committee, Domestic Relations. Additionally, he was appointed as a member of the Joint State Government Commission's Advocacy Committee on Domestic Relations Law in March 1995.

He has served as a member of many prestigious committees. For eight years he acted as the Chairman of the Education Nominating Panel, whose purpose is to recommend names to the Mayor for appointment to the Board of Education. He also served on the Board of Directors of CORA, a counseling and referral service for juveniles in difficulty. He was the Chair of a Committee that wrote Philadelphia County Juvenile Rules and the Chairman of the Common Pleas Court Committee, Board of City Trusts. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors of the Saint Thomas More Society, the Philadelphia Professional Society, and LaSalle University. He is a member of the Judicial Advisory Council, Office of Child Support Enforcement in Washington, DC, the Domestic Relations Committee of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and of the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission. He has also served as the Secretary of the Board of Philadelphia Common Pleas Judges and the Chairman of the By-Laws Committee of the Philadelphia Board of Judges.

Judge Zaleski has also lectured extensively at Community College of Philadelphia (1967-1968) and LaSalle College (1969-1971) on the topics of contracts, sales law, real estate law, and insurance law.