Judge Lazarus received her B.A. in psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1972. She received both her J.D. (1976) and LL.M. in Taxation (1986) from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Judge Lazarus served as Legal Counsel to the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court from 1980 to 1991 under the Honorable Edmund S. Pawelec. She also practiced law in the estates department of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, in Philadelphia before being appointed to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County by Gov. Robert P. Casey. Judge Lazarus was elected to a full term as judge in 1991 and served on the Philadelphia bench until 2010. During her tenure as a trial court judge, she served in the Criminal, Civil Trial and Orphans’ Court Divisions. Judge Lazarus worked diligently to increase pro bono service by the bar and, in 2005, was the first recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Legal Services for the Public Committees Judges Award in recognition of her pro bono efforts. She was also a long-standing member of the Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, serving as its chairperson from 2005 through 2009, and served as chairperson of the Pennsylvania Supreme Courts Ad Hoc Committee, Judicial Canons of Ethics, from 2010 to 2012. Judge Lazarus was appointed to the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board in 2011 and served as the chairperson from 2014-2015, when her term expired. She is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations and has served as an Adjunct Professor at Widener University School of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and the National Judicial College. Judge Lazarus is a frequent lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, speaking on such topics as judicial ethics, Orphans’ Court practice and procedure, and issues surrounding incapacity. She is active in the Temple American Inn of Court, in which she is a past president; the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society, which she served as Inaugural Chancellor; and is past president of the Brandeis Law Society Foundation. Judge Lazarus serves on the Board of Directors of Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program and was instrumental in establishing its tangled title assistance program. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the Brandeis Law Society’s Benjamin F. Levy Community Service Award, the PLAN of PA Bernard White Community Service Award and the Philadelphia Bar Associations 2013 Sandra Day O’Connor Award. Judge Lazarus was elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in November 2009 and was sworn in as a member of the Court in January 2010.

President Judge Jack Panella was elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in November 2003 and sworn into office as an appellate judge on January 9, 2004.  He was retained in 2013. He became the President Judge on January 7, 2019.  His election to the appellate court followed twelve years as a trial judge in Northampton County.  During his years as a practitioner from 1982 to 1991, President Judge Panella served as County Solicitor for Northampton County, and had an active private practice. His clients included Larry Holmes, the former world’s heavyweight boxing champion, and the late Albert Loquasto, a former champion professional racecar driver. As a trial judge, in recognition of his work on the Commonwealth Partners Program, he was given the President’s Award from the Conference of State Trial Judges in 2002. In 2004, President Judge Panella was appointed by the Supreme Court to the Commission for Justice Initiatives in Pennsylvania (CJI), a committee organized to coordinate and recommend judicial outreach and specialized court programs.  He served as Chair of two committees and wrote a popular short film on the history and operation of the Pennsylvania Judiciary. The film has been used as an educational tool in classrooms around the state, and can be viewed in the visitor’s section of the Judicial Center in Harrisburg. In 1997, he was appointed to be a judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline (CJD).  In June 2000, he was elected President Judge by his fellow judges.  He was then appointed by the Supreme Court to the Judicial Conduct Board and was eventually elected Chair of the Board. In September 2013, he was reappointed by the Supreme Court to the Court of Judicial Discipline and was again elected President Judge in 2017. He is the only judge in the history of Pennsylvania to be reappointed to the Court of Judicial Discipline and the only Judge to be elected on two occasions as President Judge. Judge Panella’s first book, THE PENNSYLVANIA SEXUAL VIOLENCE BENCHBOOK, was published in December 2007. The book is a comprehensive reference designed to help trial judges in addressing the complex criminal issues surrounding sexual violence cases. The book has received very favorable reviews.  The Third Edition of the Book was published in 2015. President Judge Panella’s second book, THE PENNSYLVANIA SEXUAL VIOLENCE BENCHBOOK, MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT COURT EDITION, was published in 2010.  This version of the benchbook was designed to assist Magisterial District Court Judges, and addressed many different topics than the benchbook for trial judges. His third book, PENNSYLVANIA LAW ON RESTITUTION, was published in January 2021. President Judge Panella has published two sets of Bench Cards for trial judges in Pennsylvania: Judicial Bench Cards: Relinquishment of Firearms in Domestic Violence Cases, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (2019); Judicial Bench Cards: Crimes of Sexual Violence, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (2018).