Legal News

Three Interim Judges Confirmed to Philadelphia Bench

By Brian Harris

 By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

Two judgeships on the Philadelphia Municipal Court and one judgeship on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas have been filled with interim appointments, while two judgeships on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas will remain unfilled until January.

Roger F. Gordon, a jury commissioner in the First Judicial District, will serve out the remainder of the Common Pleas judgeship vacancy that was created when Senior Judge William J. Mazzola opted for early senior judge status. The term runs until 2011.

"My friend Roger Gordon, now Judge Gordon, is well-experienced," Trial Division Administrative Judge D. Webster Keogh said. " His transition from jury commissioner to judge will be seamless." Gordon could not be reached immediately for this blog.

Keogh said Gordon might be assigned to the historic starting place for new judges: the list room program presiding over non-jury trials. Another judge will likely move from waivers to majors since Judge Willis W. Berry Jr. is transferring to the civil trial division, Keogh said.

Attorneys Joseph C. Waters Jr. and Kenneth J. Powell Jr. have been confirmed to Philadelphia Municipal Court. Powell will serve out the remainder of former President Judge Louis J. Presenza's term, which runs until 2011. Waters will serve out the remainder of the judgeship that was held by Judge Ronald B. Merriweather, who went on senor status at the beginning of 2009. Waters' interim term expires at the end of this year.

Waters has qualified for the Democratic nomination for Municipal Court and is running in the fall general election for a brand-new term that will start in January.

Waters said he is anxious to serve as judge because he likens serving as a judge to his service as a police officer. "What individual lawyers do is very important for their clients, but I have a greater appreciation for making a contribution to the overall good of the system," Waters said.

It will be 11 years since Waters retired as a Philadelphia Police Department captain, he said. Waters earned his law degree later in life by going to Temple University?s Beasley School of Law at night, graduating at the age of 41.

Waters said it will be easy for him to make the transition from private practice to serving as a judge because much of his practice in the last couple of years has been spent doing pro bono work for the Democratic City Committee.

Powell, of Marks O'Neill O'Brien & Courtney and an insurance defense lawyer, said he could be ready to join the bench by next week. Powell said as a defense attorney it is not as difficult as for a plaintiffs attorney to move from private practice to the bench, but Powell said he won't leave his practice until his firm is assured that the transition will be a smooth one.

"What I'm looking forward to the most is serving the public and ensuring the justice system on both sides civil and criminal sides is enhanced by putting on a black robe," Powell said.

Powell, who serves as a Republican ward leader in the 9th Ward, says he will resign his ward leader position.

Powell said that he believes he received the nomination of Democratic Gov. Edward G. Rendell because Rendell can see past party affiliation and because Rendell knew the quality of his work since Powell served as a prosecutor during Rendell's Philadelphia District Attorney's administration.

Powell, who came in fifth in the May 19 Democratic primary for Philadelphia Municipal Court, said he does not know if he will run in 2011 yet.

Powell said serving as a Republican ward leader impacted his ability to get some endorsements and it was a tough year to try to punch through as a Republican in the Democratic primary because "the Democratic party really circled the wagons and backed their own."

Powell, Waters and Gordon, along with attorney Sharon Williams-Losier, were nominated earlier this year by Rendell for judgeship appointments, but those first appointments expired.

Powell was first nominated for the Court of Common Pleas, and then later nominated for Philadelphia Municipal Court. Powell said he wasn't sure how the shift happened.

Williams-Losier was nominated by Rendell in March before she was rated as "not recommended" by the Philadelphia Bar Association in her bid this past May for the Court of Common Pleas. Rendell has the policy of only backing attorneys who receive ratings of "recommended" for judicial appointments and in judicial races.

Many other nominees for judgeships around the state also have been recently confirmed by the Senate, including Robert O. Baldi of New Hope, who is running for Bucks Court of Common Pleas in this electoral cycle.

In other news, Judge Tama Myers Clark, who was assigned to the family division, is retiring this week, President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe said.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on July 02, 2009 (boomark / email).