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Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Elects Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer as President Judge

News Article

January 07, 2022

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania today announced the election of Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer as its next president judge.

Cohn Jubelirer has served on the Court for more than two decades and succeeds President Judge P. Kevin Brobson who was recently sworn-in as a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The president judge serves a five-year term.

As president judge, Cohn Jubelirer will oversee administrative matters of the court, including budgeting, oversight of administrative offices, scheduling, special sessions, education and bench-bar interaction.

“I am honored to have the trust and confidence placed in me by my colleagues and look forward to continued service alongside such a wonderful group of jurists and all of the capable staff who see to the seamless operation of the Court,” Judge Cohn Jubelirer said. It is humbling to join such a distinguished list of those who have served before me as president judge of this Court and I look forward to seeking out their wise counsel as we continue to move the court forward, particularly through the ongoing global pandemic.”

Judge Cohn Jubelirer was elected to the Commonwealth Court in 2001 and was retained for a second, ten-year term in Nov. 2011 and a third term in 2021. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University in 1978, a juris doctor, cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law in 1983, where she served as the editor of the Law Review and her Master of Laws from Duke University School of Law in 2014.

Prior to her service on the bench, Judge Cohn Jubelirer served as a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School and as an assistant professor at DePaul College of Law before serving in the Lehigh County Solicitors Office as Deputy and then Assistant Solicitor. Following her time in the county solicitor’s office, she worked as counsel for ATX Telecommunications Services. She also served as a South Whitehall Township commissioner, Lehigh County.

Since taking the bench, Judge Cohn Jubelirer has served as vice chair of the Judicial Conduct Board, as a member of the Continuing Judicial Education Board of Judges, on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Appellate Procedural Rules Committee, as a member of the Judicial Advisory Board for the George Mason University School of Law, Law & Economics Center and as co-chair of the Supreme Court’s Commission on Judicial Independence.

She is a member of the James S. Bowman American Inns of Court, Master Emeritus, as well as the American, Pennsylvania, Lehigh, and Centre County Bar Associations.

The Commonwealth Court was established in 1968 and is one of Pennsylvania's two statewide intermediate appellate courts. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over state and local government matters. It also acts as a trial court when lawsuits are filed by or against Commonwealth officials and Commonwealth agencies.

Appellate cases are generally heard by panels of three judges in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, although, on occasion, the Court sits in other locations. Cases may also be heard by a single judge or by en banc panels of seven judges.