With a unanimous vote, the Pennsylvania Superior Court elected their new president judge, effective January 7.
A press release announced the choice of Judge Anne Lazarus as the new leader of the court. She will take over the role from current President Judge Jack Panella, whose five-year term will end on January 6.
Judge Lazarus said she’s honored to receive such “trust and confidence” from her colleagues and is thrilled to have the opportunity to “serve the Court and the citizens of Pennsylvania in this important role.”
Elected to the state Superior Court in November 2009, Judge Lazarus was officially sworn in the following January. She became the first woman from Philadelphia to be elected to any statewide office.
She is a native of Brooklyn, New York and attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook for her Bachelor’s before getting both her Juris Doctor and LLM from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
Before being named to the Superior Court, she served as legal counsel to the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court, and later worked on the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, where she served in the criminal, civil and orphans’ court divisions.
During her time serving on the Superior Court, she’s earned honors and awards that recognize her pro bono work, the Brandeis Law Society’s Benjamin F. Levy Community Service Award, the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Sandra Day O’Connor Award, and many more.
President Judge-Elect Lazarus recognized Judge Panella for his hard work and expressed her desire to continue building on the foundation of justice and commitment to Pennsylvanians that he created.
Following her installation on January 7, all three of Pennsylvania’s appellate courts will be led by women.
