Mr. Lawn, a member of Raynes & Lawn, has been litigating catastrophic injury and death cases for more than 30 years. After spending the first seven years of his career defending physicians in malpractice cases, Tim switched sides in 1996 and over the past 25 years has tried to verdict a significant number of catastrophic injury and death cases for plaintiffs. He has secured substantial verdicts and settlements throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey in a large variety of medical malpractice actions, as well as cases arising from motor vehicle accidents, defective products, workplace accidents and other acts of individual and corporate negligence. Mr. Lawn is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and The International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been selected for inclusion every year since 2010 in The Best Lawyers in America and was selected as its “Lawyer of the Year” for Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation in Philadelphia in 2021. He is consistently ranked among the Top 10 lawyers in Pennsylvania in the annual Super Lawyers survey. He is a Past-President of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Lawn teaches trial advocacy skills to other lawyers as an Instructor with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and taught an accredited course in advanced trial advocacy at the Beasley Law School of Temple University for more than 10 years. He has been called upon to give testimony to legislative committees studying medical malpractice laws in Pennsylvania and has given more than 100 lectures and presentations on trial advocacy and civil litigation issues to many different groups, including The Pennsylvania State Conference of Trial Judges.

Mr. Hoffman is a member of the Philadelphia office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, a large general practice law firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Washington and Jefferson College, his M.A. from State University of New York Graduate School of Public Affairs, and his J.D., cum laude, from Temple University School of Law where he was the executive editor of the Law Review. Mr. Hoffman is a past chair of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee, and was chairman of Hearing Committee 1.15, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board from 1993 to 1998. Mr. Hoffman was a member of the Pennsylvania Select Committee on Medical Malpractice from 1984-1986, a member of Governor Rendell’s Medical Malpractice Task Force, and Counsel to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute. Mr. Hoffman serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, and he has served on the faculty for the Temple University School of Law, Master of Laws in Trial Advocacy and Academy of Advocacy. Mr. Hoffman was a member of the Temple Inns of Court. He was the recipient of the Defense Research Institute Exceptional Performance Citation in 1989 and the Fred H. Sievert Award in 1989. Mr. Hoffman was a co-author of the book, Laws and Regulations Affecting Medical Practice. He has been listed as a top attorney in Philadelphia Magazine each time the article appears and has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 1995, and as the 2012 and 2013 Philadelphia Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants “Lawyer of the Year” and 2016 Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Law – “Lawyer of the Year.” He has been listed as one of the top 100 lawyers in Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers since 2004, and he was named one of the “Top 10” lawyers in Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2012. Mr. Hoffman is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers, as well as the American Board of Trial Advocates. His practice includes professional liability and malpractice, commercial litigation, product liability, class action, insurance coverage, toxic torts and intellectual property litigation.

Judge Anders has served as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia since 2007. He was nominated by Governor Edward Rendell and unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate in 2007. On November 3, 2009, Judge Anders was elected to a full ten year term. On November 5, 2019, Judge Anders was retained for a second ten year term. Judge Anders currently serves as the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division where he leads 30 trial judges who are assigned to the Civil Division. He previously served as a Judicial Team Leader for the 2019 Major Jury Program, where he was responsible for the case management and disposition of nearly 8000 major jury cases from initiation of the civil action all the way through trial and post trial motions. Judge Anders previously served in the Criminal Division, where he conducted hundreds of jury and bench trials on major felony cases including attempted murder and rape cases. He started his judicial service in the Family Court Division, where he heard cases involving thousands of at risk children who were abused or neglected. Judge Anders has extensive criminal and civil trial experience including presiding over 150 jury trials to verdict. He has successfully conducted hundreds of settlement conferences that resulted in an amicable resolution of the parties’ claims. More recently, Judge Anders has obtained substantial case management through his service as a judicial team leader for the major jury program and also court administrative experience as the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division. As Supervising Judge, he is responsible for the following programs: Major jury; Mass Torts; Arbitration Center; Arbitration Appeal; Motions Court (statutory appeals and injunctions); Mortgage Foreclosure; Discovery Court; and the Dispute Resolution Center. Judge Anders routinely lectures to judges, lawyers and law students on Pennsylvania civil law and the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence, including at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges and the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Bench Bar conference. He is an adjunct law professor for the Drexel University Kline School of Law where he teaches Pennsylvania Civil Practice. Judge Anders is the General Editor for Ohlbaum on the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence as well as three legal practice guides published by LexisNexis: Pennsylvania Civil Pre Trial and Trial Practice Guides and Pennsylvania Civil Discovery. From 2017 to 2022, Judge Anders served as one of two judges on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee. From 2017 to 2020, Judge Anders was the president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges, which has over 500 LGBTQ+ judicial members from across the world. Prior to his judicial service, Judge Anders practiced at Pepper Hamilton LLP (now Troutman Pepper), where he represented clients in business business litigation to help resolve disputes in a fair and equitable manner. As an attorney, his outstanding legal and community work won him high praise from his peers in the legal and business communities, including being named as a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer and one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40.” Judge Anders graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh’s law school and served as an editor of the school’s Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from Lehigh University. He is the first openly LGBTQ person nominated by a Governor and confirmed by the State Senate as a judge in Pennsylvania, and the first openly gay man to run for public office in the City of Philadelphia.

Since 2016 Judge Cohen has been a Team Leader for Major Jury Civil Cases in Philadelphia. Currently, he is the Team Leader responsible for overseeing all cases filed in 2018. Previously, he was the Team Leader for all cases filed in 2016. Before his service in the Trial Division- Civil, he had presided in the Criminal and Family Courts. Judge Cohen commenced his service on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas when appointed by Governor Thomas Ridge in 2000. He was elected in 2001 and retained for a ten-year term in 2011. Judge Cohen had been a Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney from 1976-2000. Since 2016, Judge Cohen has been the Co-Chair of the First Judicial District’s Civil Conversations Program (a judicial education program) and previously was the Co-Chair of the First Judicial District’s Criminal Conversations Program from 2006-2015. He has been the Board of Judges’ Parliamentarian since 2017. Additionally, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges Executive Committee from 2006-2009. Judge Cohen has been very active for the last thirty-one years with the Philadelphia Bar Association. His leadership roles have included: Board of Governors (elected to a three-year term); Co-Chair of Professional Responsibility Committee for eighteen years, spanning three decades; Judicial Selection Commission; and Criminal Justice Section Chair. Judge Cohen was elected President of the Boston College Law School Alumni Association in 2010 and received the Daniel G. Holland Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association in 2019. Judge Cohen graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Hon. Gwendolyn N. Bright has served as a Judge at the Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District, Pennsylvania, since January 1996. Judge Bright has presided primarily over major jury trials in both the Criminal and Civil Trial Divisions of the First Judicial District. Judge Bright has served in leadership positions in both divisions of the Court. Currently, she is the Civil Division, 2023 Major Jury Team Leader. Judge Bright spent many years on the Court’s Education Committee Coordinating CJE’s for colleagues and co-chaired the Community Judicial Outreach Program. She earned her J.D. from Temple University School of Law, and her M.A. from Atlanta University.

Judge Roberts was elected as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia on November 5, 2019, and his term commenced in January 2020. Judge Roberts currently serves in the Civil Trial Division as one of the two Motions/Statutory Appeals judges. Prior to this role, Judge Roberts was a trial judge in the court’s Complex Litigation program. Judge Roberts began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Joseph D. O’Keefe of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, serving with Judge O’Keefe from 2000-2002. In 2002, Judge Roberts became a law clerk for Judge Timothy J. Savage of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Roberts served in that role for four years. In 2006, Judge Roberts joined the litigation practice at McCarter & English LLP in Philadelphia, focusing on complex commercial litigation, products liability, financial services and electronic discovery. In 2015, Judge Roberts left McCarter & English to form Datz & Roberts LLC Datz & Roberts was a community-based, full-service law firm. In this role, Judge Roberts appeared in a wide range of courts, from civil to Orphans’ to criminal to landlord/tenant. Judge Roberts graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2000, and he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1997 with a B.A. in Political Science.

Judge Carpenter is a judge in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, currently assigned as the Team Leader for the 2022 Major Jury Program in the Civil Division of the First Judicial District. Her other assignments within the First Judicial District have included Civil Motions, Statutory and Tax Appeals, Criminal Major Jury and Homicide Trials, Criminal Family Violence Trials, and Criminal Felony Waiver Trials. Prior to being elected to the bench in 2008, Judge Carpenter was a law clerk for the Honorable Madame Justice Sandra Schultz Newman (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania) and the Honorable Carolyn Engel Temin (Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District). As a practitioner, she first worked as an associate at Hoyle, Morris and Kerr, where she primarily focused on commercial litigation, and subsequently spent most of her legal career at McCann & Geschke. At McCann & Geschke, her legal practice concentrated on appellate work, medical malpractice defense, and pro bono civil rights matters. Her pre-judicial career also included pro bono work advising artists on various legal and business matters, sitting on the Board of Yards Brewing Company (her husband’s business), and volunteering for various non-profits including Lutheran Settlement House, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, and the Fairmount Civic Association, all of which she rotated on the Board. Currently, Judge Carpenter is an avid amateur gardener and yoga enthusiast. She is also a member of the J. Willard O’Brien American Inn of Court at her alma mater Villanova Law School, now the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University. She has just been elected to the Board as Treasurer.

Ms. Zimmerman is a Judicial Law Clerk to Administrative Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper in the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court Division. She received her B.A. from Temple University and her J.D. from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.

Mr. Divon is presently the director of the Discovery Court Unit and the Dispute Resolution Center within the First Judicial District—Court of Common Pleas. He has 19 years of experience within the First Judicial District, specifically within the Civil Section of the Trial Division. He is a former judicial aide to the Honorable Paul P. Panepinto. He is currently the ADA Coordinator for the First Judicial District—Trial Division Civil and a member of Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Manage¬ment. As director of the Discovery Court Unit, Mr. Divon oversees approximately 30,000 motions per year in all major jury cases, commerce, non-jury, arbitration, arbitration appeal, and petition actions, and over 300 name change petitions. As director of the Dispute Resolution Center, he over¬sees over 3600 settlement conferences, in which there is currently a 41 percent settlement rate.

Judge Woods-Skipper currently serves as the Administrative Judge of the Orphans’ Court Division of the Common Pleas Philadelphia County. She successfully served as President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Philadelphia County, a position to which she was unanimously elected by her colleagues in November 2013 for a 5-year term that ended in November 2018. Judge Woods-Skipper was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in January 2016, as Chair of the Administrative Governing Board of the Court of Common Pleas and served until her term ended in November 2018. Prior to her election as President Judge, she served as Supervising Judge of the Criminal Trial Division where she was instrumental in creating and implementing innovative programs in the Criminal Division that have fostered public safety, reduced prison population and increased efficiency in the processing of criminal cases, including her assistance in the creation of the First Judicial District Mental Health Court over which she presided until December 2018. In 2014, Judge Woods-Skipper was appointed by the Supreme Court to the Advisory Council on Elder Justice where she chairs the Elder Abuse and Neglect Committee. In response to a recommendation of the Elder Task Force of the Supreme Court, Judge Woods-Skipper opened an Elder Justice Resource Center in October 2016, to provide direct services to seniors, and education to the public regarding issues impacting seniors in the justice system. In May 2020, she was selected and appointed to serve on the Supreme Court Jury Trial Working Group tasked with developing a plan and recommendations for ensuring confidence and safety for jurors as they return post Covid-19. Judge Woods-Skipper participates in numerous professional and community activities including: Past Chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges (Zone Representative), Pennsylvania Bar Association House of Delegates, American Judges Association (Past Board Member), National Association of Women Judges (Past Regional Director), the Clifford Scott Green Chapter, National Bar Association Judicial Council, Philadelphia Bar Association (Past Chair), National Bar Association Women Lawyer’s Division, Barristers Association, Forum of Executive Women (Board of Director, Board Secretary, Co-Chair Forum Ally Partnership with Girls Inc., Subcommittee chair and Member of Diversity and Inclusion Committee), Temple University American Inn of Court (President), The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Pennsylvania Chapter (Past Vice President and Board Member), and former participant in Girls, Inc. Discovery Leadership Mentoring Program. She is an active member of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Omega Mu Omega Chapter. Judge Woods-Skipper has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Women of Distinction Award, the A. Leon Higginbotham Award, the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the Women’s Champion Award from Temple Law Alumni Association.

Mr. Thompson is Director of the Complex Litigation Center, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and Certificate in Broadcasting from The Pennsylvania State University and his Juris Doctor degree from Temple University School of Law. Mr. Thompson has worked in various capacities with the Court for twenty-nine years.He was law clerk to the Hon. Angelo A. Guarino, Hon. Ethan Allen Doty and other senior judges assigned to the Complex Litigation Center from 1992 through 1997.He subsequently served as a Civil Case Manager and Supervising Civil Case Manager. He has served as judge pro tempore on behalf of team leader judges, conducting settlement conferences. Mr. Thompson has been recognized for his contribution to the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program and Trial Division Civil Judicial Tipstaff Education, Training and Development Program. Mr. Thompson is the 2018 recipient of the annual Honorable Alex Bonavitacola Award for Outstanding Service, presented by the Philadelphia Bar Association, State Civil Litigation Section. He is recipient of the 2024 Lawyers’ Club of Philadelphia Service Award. Mr. Thompson has worked in private practice for several years as a litigation associate for Stahl & DeLaurentis, P.C., in the firm’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Voorhees, New Jersey offices. He has also worked as a recovery administrator for Master Lease Corporation/Tokai Financial, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, working with general counsel and vice president to resolve commercial account disputes. He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management, Pennsylvania Association for Court Managers, Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, The Temple American Inn of Court, Temple Law Alumni Association Executive Committee, and Lawyers’ Club of Philadelphia. He has served as an author and presenter for numerous continuing legal education programs, covering various areas, including civil practice and procedure, arbitration and arbitration appeal practice, mass tort, and complex litigation. Mr. Thompson has been admitted to the following Bars: Pennsylvania; United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; and Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Wulko is the Deputy Court Administrator for the Trial Division – Civil in the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. He administers and oversees all operations for the departments, offices, and programs of the Trial Division – Civil including, but not limited to the Complex Litigation, Arbistration, Case Management Conference, and Dispute Resolution Centers as well as the Discovery Court and Major Jury programs. He has been an employee of the Philadelphia Courts for more than 25 years in several capacities. During his tenure with the district, Mr. Wulko served in the Municipal Court, the Office of the Prothonotary, and the Office of Civil Administration in the Trial Division – Civil, as well as the Department of Information and Technology Services (I.T.). In each division, Mr. Wulko has been a major contributor in the development and implementation of many court programs vital to advancing the district, most with I.T.-related enhancements. Mr. Wulko has been an integral member of the development teams dedicated to the implementation and maintenance of the Civil and Criminal Electronic Filing Systems and many other court programs. He continues to be a member of the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management and the National Center for State Courts’ Institute for Court Management development programs.

Ms. Packer is the director of the Commerce Court Program of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. She has been with the Commerce Program for over 23 years. Prior to working for the court, she was a commercial litigator and corporate attorney in Philadelphia for seven years and in New York City for four years. Ms. Packer graduated magna cum laude from New York University School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. She received a Bachelor of Arts with high honors in history from Swarthmore College.

Judge Patrick is a presiding judge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was elected in November 2003 to the Court of Common Pleas and has served nearly two decades in the largest court system in the State. Judge Patrick has served in the juvenile, family, criminal, and civil divisions of the Court. She has adjudicated more than 20,000 cases in her career and has written more than 600 opinions to the three Pennsylvania appellate courts. Judge Patrick is currently assigned to the Civil Motions Program as Judicial Team Leader where she oversees, supervises and manages a caseload of over 2,000 matters annually. She has proven expertise in case management and administration with a high-volume caseload. Judge Patrick is known for her judicial efficiency and her ability to meet challenges head on, resolve complex problems, and adapt quickly to changing priorities. She is a strong leader who works well under pressure and exudes positivity. She is well respected by both her peers on the bench and attorneys who come before her. In 2015, Judge Patrick was also appointed City Commissioner for one year to oversee and manage Philadelphia elections. In her judicial career, Judge Patrick has been a member of many professional, civic and charitable organizations, including the Federalist Society. She participates on state and national committees dedicated to professional development of members of the bench. Prior to her election, Judge Patrick was a solo practitioner for almost ten years with a general litigation practice in the areas of personal injury, worker’s compensation, family law, criminal defense and municipal bond finance. She also served for two years as adjunct faculty of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at LaSalle University. While there, she taught undergraduate courses in criminal law and the court system. During her tenure as an attorney and college instructor, Judge Patrick received countless awards and honors from professional, civic, religious and social groups. Judge Patrick is a native North Carolinian having graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Political Science from Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina. She also graduated from the Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law receiving her Juris Doctorate. Judge Patrick is passionate about the rule of law with a commitment to obeying and defending both the Constitution of the United States and Pennsylvania. She refuses to legislate from the bench and is committed to utilizing skills to help others while working to bring justice to all citizens of the Commonwealth with the highest integrity. Judge Patrick is the mother of one son and is an active participant in her church and the community.

Keynon Harris-Miller, Esq. is a Law Clerk for the Orphans’ Court in Philadelphia, supporting the judiciary with legal research, drafting, and analysis in matters involving estates, trusts, and guardianships. He is drawn to areas where law meets human complexity, and approaches each case with precision, perspective, and purpose. He is currently building his foundation in probate and fiduciary law, while staying open to future opportunities to grow, contribute, and make a meaningful impact in the legal field.

Ms. Eagen has been the director of the Arbitration Center since 2014. Prior to her appointment as director, Ms. Eagen was law clerk to the Honorable D. Webster Keogh, who was assigned to the Major Civil Trial division, Day Forward program. Ms. Eagen also clerked for Judge Keogh during his tenure as administrative judge and supervising judge of the Criminal Trial division. For approximately five years, Ms. Eagen served as a law clerk to various senior judges in the Criminal Trial Division handling major felony cases. Ms. Eagen graduated magna cum laude from the University of Scranton with a B.S. in economics/finance in 1988. She received her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law in 1991. After law school, Ms. Eagen clerked for the Honorable Leon Katz and the Honorable Albert John Snite, Jr., before returning to Northeastern Pennsylvania. There, she worked for three years as a litigation associate with Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald. She returned to Philadelphia in 1996 and worked for Post & Schell, as well as Rubintate, Jacobs & Saba. During her tenure with the FJD, she has helped coordinate the “Law Day” trials for the Early Education Program with the Honorable Annette Rizzo (retired) and participated in the FJD’s Management Development Program and Civil Education, Training and Development Program. Ms. Eagen also served for six years as a Board member, including as vice-president and president, of the Board of Trustees for Independence Charter School, Philadelphia, PA