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.

Melinda C. Ghilardi is an attorney at Munley Law personal injury attorneys.  Prior to joining the firm, she was the First Assistant Federal Public Defender, an Assistant Federal Public Defender as well as an Attorney/Investigator for the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for 33 years until retirement in February 2019.  She began her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Lackawanna County. Melinda is Chair of the House of Delegates Committee on Credentials and Admissions, a Co-Vice Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Federal Practice Committee and serves on the Executive Councils of the Civil Litigation Section and the Commission on Women in the Profession.  She is also on the Board of Directors of the PA Bar Foundation.  She served on the PBA Board of Governors as both the Woman Governor and Unit County Governor.  In that capacity, she was also a member of the PBA Nominating Committee. Melinda has also held the following positions in PBA Committees:  Co-Chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession, Chair of the Diversity Team, Co-Vice Chair of the DEI Team, and Co-Chair of the Bar Leadership Institute.  She is also a long-time member of the PBA House of Delegates. Melinda has been recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer from 2022 to the present as well as in Best Lawyers in America for 2024.  In 2005, she received the Lynette Norton Award presented by the PBA’s Commission on Women in the Profession. That same year, she received the inaugural Athena Award presented by the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. In 2016, Melinda received the Robert J. Munley Distinguished Service Award from Lackawanna Pro Bono, Inc. Melinda is a member of the American Association for Justice, Pennsylvania Association for Justice, and the Melvin Belli Society.  She is the Treasurer of the Association of Women Lawyers of Lackawanna County.  She has also served as Secretary of the National Association of Federal Defenders and is a past President of the Lackawanna Bar Association. In her community, Melinda is a member of the Board of Directors of the Circle 200 Forum for Senior Level Executive Women and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV).  She also serves on the Legal Committee of the Barbara J. Hart Justice Center. The University of Scranton honored Melinda by establishing an Ignatian Scholarship in her name and, in 2000, presented her with the Frank J. O’Hara Distinguished Alumni Award for outstanding achievement in the field of law.  She is a current member of the Board of Visitors of the University’s Panuska College of Professional Studies. She is a 1976 graduate of Scranton Preparatory School and a 1980 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Scranton.  In 1983, she was awarded a juris doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Ms. Wainwright is the Deputy Court Administrator for the Civil Division of the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania. Working closely with the Division’s Administrative Judge, The Honorable Christine Ward, Ms. Wainwright administers and manages the operations of the Civil Division. Together, Ms. Wainwright and Judge Ward work to improve access to the Court of Common Pleas for all litigants, and provide efficient, effective and fair case management for all cases filed in the Division. Prior to joining the Fifth Judicial District, Ms. Wainwright practiced law handling a variety of commercial matters for corporations, sole proprietors and businesses. Ms. Wainwright’s practice area focused largely on representing professionals (accountants, attorneys, engineers/surveyors, insurance agents, insurers etc.) in numerous contract and professional liability matters. Ms. Wainwright is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, serving on the Board of Governors. She is a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County where she serves on the Board of Governors, and as the Co-chair of the Diversity Committee. Ms. Wainwright serves as an ex-officio member of the State Civil Procedural Rules Committee and is a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Court Managers. Ms. Wainwright also provides continuing education to professionals where her presentations focus on ethics/professionalism and reducing risks through improved practice management.