Judge Carolyn H.
Nichols, was elected to a ten year term in the Pennsylvania Superior Court in
2017 and previously was elected in 2011 to serve as a judge in the
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, primarily conducting felony jury
trials in the criminal division. She supports activities promoting positive
reentry to prevent recidivism, including community relations initiatives of
the Southwest Police Division, such as Turn A New Corner, to assist returning
citizens gain employment, and Blades, Fades and Engage, a town hall style
dialogue in neighborhood barber shops with the local community and law
enforcement. In 2019, Judge Nichols co-founded the Southwest Division Youth
Advisory Committee to facilitate positive activities for youth to move their
lives forward with confidence and purpose. In 2020, during the pandemic,
Judge Nichols participated in food and clothing distribution, and
neighborhood clean-up activities with grassroots organizations including
Unity in the Community and Ahari. Judge Nichols attended
Philadelphia public schools and received the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree
from Temple University and graduated from Temple University Law School with
the Juris Doctor Degree and Master of Law Degree (LLM) in Trial Advocacy. Additionally,
Judge Nichols obtained the Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA),
from Eastern University. Her professional career spans over twenty years of
public service, including Legislative Assistant to former Philadelphia
Councilwoman, Augusta Clarke; Assistant City Solicitor, and Deputy Secretary
of External Affairs for the Mayor’s Office, in which she managed
appropriations, and legislative advocacy. As City Deputy Finance Director,
she managed the Minority Business Enterprise Council (MBEC), to ensure that
women and minority owned businesses received fair inclusion and participation
in City contracts. She maintained a solo litigation law practice before her
election to the Common Pleas Court Bench. In 2023, Judge Nichols was
appointed commissioner to America250PA for the U.S. Semiquincentenial.
Additionally, in 2022 and 2023, City and State Pennsylvania selected Judge
Nichols as one of the influential leaders of the Power of Diversity: Black
100. Additionally in 2023, she was honored as one of the Wonderful Women of
2023, by the Lawyers of Color. The Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Minority
Bar Committee awarded Judge Nichols the A. Leon Higginbotham Lifetime
Achievement Award along with U.S. Third Circuit Judge, Theodore McKee in 2021.
The Rutgers Law School Black Law Students Association honored Judge Nichols
with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Champion of Social Justice and Equality
Award in 2019. During 2018, she received the Judicial Council/Clifford Scott
Green Chapter’s Pinnacle Award for her service to the Court of Common Pleas
and was the inaugural recipient of the Judge Carolyn H. Nichols Drum Major
for Justice Award, instituted in the 164th Pennsylvania House of
Representatives District. Philadelphia City Council honored Judge Nichols in
2014, for receiving the City Office of Economic Opportunity’s Guardian of
Economic Inclusion Award for her service as MBEC Director. Judge Nichols has
received recognition for her community service, including induction to the
Overbrook High School Hall of Fame. In 2007 and 2008, Judge Nichols was
honored by the Philadelphia Tribune as one of the City’s Most Influential
African Americans. In 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf appointed Judge Nichols to the
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and serves on its Adult
Racial and Ethnic Disparity Subcommittee. Judge Nichols joined the Criminal
Justice Committee of the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender,
Racial and Ethnic Fairness, and is active in mentoring, and peace building
programs in public schools to prevent violence, and to stop the school to
prison pipeline with groups including the NAACP, Philadelphia School
District, Black Male Educators (BMEC), and Muslims 4 Humanity. She promotes
inclusion, dialogue and understanding with groups such as the Truman Project,
Masjidullah, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, and NewCore.
Judge Nichols initiated a dialogue group with African American and Jewish
professional women with the American Jewish Committee. Judge Nichols is a
member of the Philadelphia Education Fund’s Education First Compact to
improve public education in local schools. Judge Nichols is a Fellow of the
American Bar Foundation and was elected to membership in the American Law
Institute. She is co-chair of the Courts Committee within HEAL PA, Criminal
Justice Action Team (CJAT), an initiative of the Governor’s Office. She is a
member of the Montgomery County Bar Association and its Diversity Committee;
the Pennsylvania Bar Association and its Appellate Advocacy Committee and the
Minority Bar Committee; and the Philadelphia Bar Association and its
Diversity Advisory Panel, the American Bar Association, as well as the
Judicial Council, and the International Association of Women Judges. She
conducts CLE and CJE programs and has traveled internationally to participate
in cultural exchanges and dialogue with judges concerning constitutional and
judicial reform.

Branden Albaugh is the Deputy Chief Law Clerk for Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dougherty.  Prior to joining Justice Dougherty’s chambers in 2018, he worked in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for more than four years, during which he served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Appellate Unit and the Assistant Chief of the Civil Litigation Unit.  He is also an adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he teaches Appellate Advocacy.  He graduated from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2013 and received his undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University in 2010.

Ms. Kunz is an appellate litigator handling criminal appeals in Pennsylvania courts. She has experience with complex commercial litigation in both state and federal court with ten years of post-law school experience, including as a federal law clerk at both a district court and a court of appeals, and as a litigation associate in large New York and Philadelphia firms. Ms. Kunz has experience arguing appeals and motions, taking depositions, preparing witnesses, drafting briefs, bench memoranda, discovery requests, complaints, dispositive motions, mediation statements, client letters, and assorted pretrial filings. She is committed to pro bono and other volunteer work and dedicated to public service, including three years as a criminal justice policy analyst for Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York. Ms. Kunz received her BA in Political Science from Swarthmore College and her JD from American University Washington College of Law.

Mr. Myers is Co-Chair of the Appellate Practice Group at Stevens & Lee in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. He has two decades of experience arguing and briefing a wide variety of precedent-setting and high stakes appeals before the appellate courts of Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions. Mr. Myers maintains a particular focus on cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme, Commonwealth, and Superior Courts, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. His arguments often appear on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and in various legal publications, which seek him out as an appellate commentator. Mr. Myers often serves as a panelist and moderator for appellate practice presentations and continuing legal education seminars. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, is a Past Chair of the Administrative Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and is an active member of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Historical Society. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Third Circuit Bar Association. Mr. Myers also serves on the Board of Directors and as Pennsylvania State Chair for the Council of Appellate Lawyers of the American Bar Association’s Appellate Judges Conference. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Russell M. Nigro of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after receiving his law degree, cum laude, from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law. During law school, Mr. Myers served as a clerk for the Honorable John T.J. Kelly Jr. of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Honorable Yvette Kane of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and was selected for the Appellate Moot Court Board, Dickinson Law Review, and Woolsack Honor Society.