James J. Fitzgerald

This article is about James J. Fitzgerald, Pennsylvania Superior Court justice. If you are looking for information on the federal judge for the District of Alaska, please see James Martin Fitzgerald.

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James J. Fitzgerald

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Prior offices

Pennsylvania Superior Court

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James J. Fitzgerald III (b. 1939) was a senior judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, one of Pennsylvania's two statewide intermediate appellate courts.

Education

Fitzgerald earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his J.D. degree from the Villanova University School of Law.

Career

After earning his law degree from Villanova, Fitzgerald worked in the Office of the District Attorney for 12 years. He also served as chief counsel to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, worked in private law practice and ran the government affairs division for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Fitzgerald first served on the bench when a vacancy occurred in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. After winning election to a 10-year term in 1989, Judge Fitzgerald was retained in 1999. In 2002, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Fitzgerald as an administrative judge in the trial division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. He was appointed interim justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on February 13, 2007 and assumed office on March 28, 2007. His term on the high court ended on January 6, 2008, after which he was appointed a senior judge of the Superior Court. He also served as the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Judicial Independence and as a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

External links

• Judges of the Superior Court
• Wikipedia: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court turnover
• Rendell's judicial nominees rejected in partisan showdown