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Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter
2016 - Present
9
Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter is a senior judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. She previously served as the president judge of that court, a position to which she was elected effective January 7, 2007. She was first appointed to the court by Governor Tom Ridge in May 1996. In 1997, she was elected to a full 10-year term on the court. She was retained by voters for a second term in 2007.[1][2] She assumed senior status February 1, 2016, due to mandatory retirement.[3]
Education
- Undergraduate degree, Rice University, 1968
- J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1971[1]
Career
- In 1999, Leadbetter was appointed to the Court of Judicial Discipline for a four-year term.
- From 1990 to 1996, she was a shareholder in the law firm of Fineman & Bach, P.C., specializing in civil litigation
- She served as a judge pro tempore of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas from 1991 to 1996.
- During her career, she was a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the Widener Law and Government Institute Board of Visitors, a master of the J. Willard O’Brien American Inn of Court, and served on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.
- Leadebetter taught trial and appellate advocacy at Temple Law School’s LL.M. Program in Trial Advocacy and at continuing legal education courses sponsored by the American Bar Association Appellate Judges' Conference, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Eastern District Continuing Legal Education Committee, the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the Academy of Trial Advocacy.
- She served on the Third Circuit Lawyers' Advisory Committee (1988-91, chair 1991), the Federal Courts Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association (1990), as a director of the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1990s), and as a member of that Court’s Local Rules Advisory Committee.
- Leadebetter was an assistant district attorney for Philadelphia County from 1971 to 1976 and an assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1976-81).[1]
Retention election
Leadbetter was retained to the court in 2007.
- Vote to retain: 1,062,403 (63.4%)
- Vote not to retain: 612,136 (36.6%)[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Biography of Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Historical Society
- ↑ Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
- ↑ This information was provided to Ballotpedia in an email from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
- ↑ 2007 retention election results
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania
State courts:
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania Superior Court • Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court • Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas • Pennsylvania Magisterial Districts
State resources:
Courts in Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania judicial elections • Judicial selection in Pennsylvania
