Damaris L. Garcia serves as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Trial Division, Civil Division, a position she has held since October 2023. In this esteemed role, she presides over a wide range of civil matters, applying her extensive legal acumen to uphold justice within the Philadelphia court system. Prior to her judicial appointment, Judge Garcia built a remarkable career as a civil trial attorney of nearly 20 years. She has worked at large law firms and in-house for Fortune 500 companies. Her activities exemplified a commitment to the legal community. She is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and served on the Board of Governors. She was also a member of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania. Judge Garcia’s commitment to the city’s citizens since taking the bench has been evident in her efforts to improve the administration of justice, including her work as a presenter for continuing judicial education programs. A graduate of Duquesne University with degrees in Psychology and Sociology, Judge Garcia earned her Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University School of Law in 2003.

Colin J. O’Boyle is a shareholder at Elliott Greenleaf, P.C.’s Blue Bell office. His practice includes trial and appellate litigation in state and federal courts, as well as arbitrations, focusing primarily on commercial litigation, health law, and employment discrimination.  He has been involved in litigation across the country, including claims involving healthcare provider disputes, ERISA claims, civil rights claims, employment discrimination claims, and contract and other complex commercial disputes.  He was named to the Pennsylvania’s “Rising Stars” List from 2010 through 2017 and to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers List in 2021 and 2022. Colin is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars and is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. Colin is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.  He served as the Chair of the Young Lawyers Division from 2020-21 and on the Board of Governors from 2019-2022.  He is also a member of the PBA House of Delegates and is active in several committees. Colin is also an active member of the Montgomery Bar Association. He currently serves as the Secretary of the Association and a member of its Board of Directors.  He also continues to serve as the co-chair of the MBA’s Rules of Civil Court Committee and has held, or still holds, other leadership positions within Association’s committees and sections. Colin is the Vice President of the Montgomery Bar Foundation and also a Fellow of the Foundation. Colin is a 2007 cum laude graduate of Villanova University School of Law.  While at Villanova, he received the 2007 David E. Worby scholarship, which recognizes one third year law student for outstanding achievements in oral advocacy.  He was a two-year member of the Moot Court Board and served as the Judicial Liaison to its Executive Board.  He was a semi-finalist in the 46th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court competition.  Prior to law school, Colin graduated magna cum laude from the University of Scranton’s Special Jesuit Liberal Arts honors program with a dual degree in History and Philosophy.

David N. Wecht was elected to a ten-year term on The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in November 2015 and began his service as a Supreme Court Justice in January 2016. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court is the oldest appellate court in the United States of America and predates the nation’s independence by several decades. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was established by the Commonwealth’s Judiciary Act of 1722 and traces its roots to the Provincial Appellate Court created in 1684. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Wecht served as a Judge of The Superior Court of Pennsylvania from January 2012 to January 2016, and as a Judge on The Court of Common Pleas for Pennsylvania’s Fifth Judicial District from February 2003 to January 2012. From January 2009 to January 2011, Justice Wecht served by appointment of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania as Administrative Judge of the Fifth Judicial District’s Family Division, which encompasses both domestic relations cases and cases of juvenile dependency and delinquency. As Administrative Judge, Justice Wecht designed and implemented several reforms and innovations, including the Unified Family Court, the local rule on parenting coordination, and improved conflict counsel appointments in juvenile cases. Prior to taking the bench, Justice Wecht was twice elected as the Allegheny County Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans’ Court. In that capacity, he pioneered innovations that included creation of a free will consultation program for seniors and authorship of a state law that prevents accused murderers from controlling their victims’ estates. Justice Wecht is a 1984 Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale, where he was a National Merit Scholar and earned Yale College Distinction in both history and political science. At Yale Law School, Justice Wecht was selected as Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal, and as an Editor of both the Yale Law & Policy Review and the Yale Journal of International Law. While a law student, he also volunteered as a certified legal intern in the Office of the State’s Attorney in New Haven, Connecticut, and provided pro bono legal assistance to inmates of the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, New York. After graduating from Yale Law School in 1987, Justice Wecht served as Law Clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge George MacKinnon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington, D.C. and received the Award for Distinguished Service in that position. From January 1989 until taking the bench in February 2003, Justice Wecht continuously practiced law, first at Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC, then at Katarincic & Salmon in Pittsburgh, PA, and finally at The Wecht Law Firm in Pittsburgh, PA. He was licensed to practice in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the bar of numerous state and federal courts, including The Supreme Court of the United States. A frequent lecturer to bench, bar, and community groups throughout Pennsylvania and in several other states, Justice Wecht also has served for many years on the faculties of the Duquesne University School of Law and the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught at universities in China and in Israel, where he visits regularly to instruct law students. Justice Wecht’s extra-judicial writings have appeared in a number of publications, including the Yale Law Journal, Gonzaga Law Review, Widener Commonwealth Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Pennsylvania Bar Quarterly, Pennsylvania Lawyer, Pennsylvania Family Lawyer, Pittsburgh Legal Journal, Tablet, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, Midstream, and others. Justice Wecht also serves or has served as a Fellow or Member of several professional organizations, including the American Law Institute, the Allegheny County Bar Foundation, and the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. He has volunteered his time to a number of governmental, civic, and community boards and groups, including the Parent Education & Advocacy Leadership Center, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee, the Law Enforcement Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee of the Community College of Allegheny County, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges Commission, and others. Justice Wecht was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill section and graduated from Shady Side Academy in 1980. Justice Wecht and his wife Valerie were married at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation, on whose Board of Trustees he served. Justice Wecht and his wife continue to live in Allegheny County, where they raised four children, all of whom are now adults.

Attorney Carol A. Shelly is a shareholder and managing partner of Shelly Law Offices, LLC, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Serving clients throughout Bucks County and the surrounding areas of the Philadelphia metro region, Ms. Shelly devotes her practice exclusively to personal injury law. She has achieved notable success helping those across her region who suffered an injury or loss as the result of someone else’s negligent, careless or unlawful actions. Over the course of her more than 38 years of practicing law, Ms. Shelly has recovered millions of dollars in settlements and awards for those adversely affected by motor vehicle crashes, medical malpractice, brain and birth injuries, and other preventable tragedies. At every turn, Ms. Shelly delivers highly personalized, compassionate counsel and guidance to those she serves as she aggressively pursues the most favorable outcome possible for her clients. Recognized for her exemplary professionalism and outstanding legal abilities, Ms. Shelly has earned an AV Preeminent peer review rating by Martingale-Hubble, a designation reflecting the respect of Judges and her peers that ranks her at the highest level of professional excellence in legal knowledge, communication skills, and ethical standards. Ms. Shelly has been named to three prestigious Super Lawyer lists: Top 100 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania, Top 100 Super Lawyers in Philadelphia, and Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania. She has been named a Super Lawyer nearly every one of the past 18 years. A native of Philadelphia, Ms. Shelly graduated from Gettysburg College in 1981. She then obtained her Juris Doctor from Widener University’s Delaware Law School in 1986, and she is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. A leader in her field, Ms. Shelly once served as president of the Bucks County Bar Association, President of the Bucks County Bar Foundation and Chair of the Civil Litigation Section of the Bucks County Bar Association. She has written and conducted numerous lectures and seminars on a variety of legal topics. She is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Ms. Shelly is on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, representing attorneys from Bucks, Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties.

Wade A. Kagarise was elected to the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County in 2013. He has presided over all areas of the Court’s docket since he began his service in 2014. Judge Kagarise became President Judge of the Blair County Court of Common Pleas in January 2024. Judge Kagarise serves on the executive and legislative committees of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. He has also been appointed twice by the Chief Justice to serve on the County Adult Parole and Probation Advisory Committee. Three Governors have appointed him to serve as a member of the State Council for Interstate Juvenile Supervision. Judge Kagarise graduated cum laude in 1995 from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and from Widener University School of Law in 1997. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Kagarise served for fifteen and a half years as an assistant district attorney and chief deputy district attorney in the Blair County District Attorney’s Office. For most of those years, he also was a sole practitioner of law concentrating on civil, family, and labor law litigation. Judge Kagarise has been an adjunct professor for over fifteen years at Saint Francis University where he teaches courses in the criminal justice/sociology department. Judge Kagarise is also a Veteran of the United States Army Reserves.

Ms. Coatsworth is a partner at Margolis Edelstein. She has litigated hundreds of motor vehicle, dealer fraud and lemon law cases from both the plaintiff and defense sides. Additionally, she concentrates her practice in the defense of professionals such as realtors, home inspectors, accountants and physicians. She also has extensive experience with premises liability and product liability and has handled employment and construction work and several fraternity cases. Ms. Coatsworth has defended dozens of car dealerships and real estate sales people for claims of breach of contract and fraud and violations of various fraud-related statutes such as the Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Magnuson Moss Warranty Improvement Act, the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Lemon Laws, the New Vehicle Damage Disclosure Act, the Automotive Industry Trade Practices Act, the Real Estate Sellers Disclosure Law and the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act. Additionally, Ms. Coatsworth specializes in representing Greek letter organizations in all manner of claims including dram shop, hazing, and personal injury. She was selected for inclusion in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars from 2011 through 2018 and Super Lawyers in 2021-2025. Ms. Coatsworth currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association as Immediate Past Chancellor, having previously served as Chancellor, Chancellor-Elect, Vice Chancellor, Assistant Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Parliamentarian and Elected Member. Additionally, she is a past co-chair of the Women in the Profession Committee, and she is also very active with the State Civil Litigation Section, Women’s Rights Committee, LGBTQ Rights Committee and the Real Property Section. She previously served on the Executive Committee of the Young Lawyers Division of that organization for six years and held the positions of Secretary and Vice Chair of the Division. She also served as a Trustee of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation and a Board Member for Philadelphia VIP. She serves on the Leadership Council of Community Legal Services and the Advisory Board for Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts. In the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Ms. Coatsworth is the Immediate Past Zone One Governor and she co-chairs the Membership Development Committee. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Civil and Equal Rights Committee and Large Firm Management Committee, and she sits on the Executive Counsel of the Civil Litigation Section as a Past Chair and the Women in the Profession Commission’s Executive Council as Co-Chair of the 2026 Fall Retreat. She previously served as co-chair of the PBA Women in the Profession Commission and chaired several of its committees including Annual Meeting, Fall Retreat and Awards Committee. She is also a Past Chancellor of the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society, and she serves on several committees of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania including the Community Outreach Committee and the Jury Diversity Task Force.