Dan McCaffery is a judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. He assumed office on January 6, 2020. He previously served as a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia. After serving on active duty with the First Cavalry Division, he was one of a few select soldiers chosen from the military to attend the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point Prep School. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Army, Judge McCaffery attended Temple University and Temple University Law School on a veteran’s scholarship. In 1991, McCaffery became an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. He quickly distinguished himself as a top-flight prosecutor assigned to the major trials unit, prosecuting over fifty jury trials and a thousand bench trials. McCaffery is currently the supervising judge for wiretaps and was selected by the Supreme Court to serve on the Court of Judicial Discipline.
Judge, Commonwealth Court
Judge Matt Wolf is the Supervising Civil Judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court. As Supervising Judge, he guided the court through the pandemic; he started the heralded eviction diversion program, and he has focused the court on equity and access to justice.
Judge Wolf is currently in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, and served on active duty in Afghanistan in 2008. In country, he served as a Foreign Claims Officer and Rule of Law advisor to the Afghan National Police on legal matters.
Since 2021, Judge Wolf has been working with the National Center for State Courts through a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. He is the only Judge for Commonwealth Court in this election. In making changes to court policy, Judge Wolf listens to both sides of cases as well as all court stakeholders who should have a say in how the court is run.
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Judge, Superior Court
Jill knows firsthand that justice is served only when every person – regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or income – has fair and equal access to the courts. She is running for the Pennsylvania Superior Court to ensure that justice in Pennsylvania truly is for ALL. After graduating at the top of her class from Duquesne University School of Law, Jill chose to work for the nonprofit organization KidsVoice, before spending a decade on the Superior and Supreme Court where she drafted over 500 decisions of the very kind she will decide as Judge. Jill currently resides with her husband, two young children, and rescue dog in Pittsburgh, where she is an active volunteer in her children’s classrooms and in her community.
Judge, Superior Court
Judge Timika Lane was elected to the Court of the Common Pleas in 2013 after a distinguished career as a teacher and then a lawyer. She was first assigned to the Major Trials program in the Criminal Division. There Judge Lane supervised human trafficking cases. In addition, she presided over serious felony criminal matters including but not limited to domestic/family violence, sexual assault, attempted murder, arson, robbery, and burglary. She also handled Investigative Grand Jury matters and supervised re-entry programs. Judge Lane is now assigned to the Complex Litigation jury trial program in the Civil Division.
Judge Lane was born and raised in West Philadelphia. The value of hard work and public service were instilled in her at a very young age by her mother, now a retired Philadelphia Police Detective, and her father who served in the Marine Corp. She has passed these values on to her daughter Tori, a student at Howard University where Judge Lane obtained her B.A.
After college, with those ingrained values of hard work and public service, Judge Lane taught social studies to middle school students in Prince George’s County, Maryland. She then pursued a career in law and received a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers-Camden School of Law in New Jersey in 2002. At Rutgers, Judge Lane volunteered with the Pro Bono Domestic Violence Project, the Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project and co-chaired the Black Law Students Community Outreach program.
Judge, Court of Common Pleas
Judge Nicole Forzato is serving on the Court of Common Pleas, after being appointed to the bench by Governor Wolf in 2022. Before her appointment, Judge Forzato was the first female and first democrat chief legal officer of Chester County. During her over twenty year legal career, she gained extensive litigation experience in civil, criminal and orphans court matters. She worked alongside Governor Shapiro for eight years in different roles including as a Senior Deputy Attorney General.
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Judge, Court of Common Pleas
While maintaining full-time employment as a child support conciliator, Sarah Black attended Widener University School of Law at night. She also clerked for two civil firms specializing in personal injury and contractual litigation. Upon graduation, she worked as a family law sole practitioner. She has been a public defender in Pennsylvania for fourteen years, the last nine of which have been at the Chester County Public Defender’s Office. As a practicing trial attorney appearing before judges and juries, certified to defend death penalty cases, she appears in the courtroom daily providing zealous advocacy to marginalized populations. She is heavily involved in community service projects in her hometown of West Chester, where she resides with her husband, Paul, and rescue dog, Jack.
Judge, Court of Common Pleas
Deb Ryan has dedicated her entire 24-year career as an attorney to public service as a prosecutor, advocate for children, and as District Attorney. In 2019, she was elected as the first woman and first Democrat DA in our county’s history. Deb has successfully handled thousands of cases in the Court of Common Pleas including homicides, child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assaults. As a judge, she will be committed to the integrity of the courts, the protection of individual rights, and the due process of law.
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Judge, Court of Common Pleas
A legacy of serving and protecting the Chester County community Sheriff Maddox has protected our families and has been a tireless advocate fighting for the legal rights of marginalized individuals for more than 25 years. Fredda has represented the accused and the accuser, the abused and the abuser, the privileged and the poor equally and provides a rare, balanced perspective of the court to provide the fairness, compassion and experience needed as a Judge.
Judge, Court of Common Pleas
Thomas (Tip) McCabe focused his law practice in Chester County, first as an Assistant Public Defender, and later as court appointed counsel for the indigent. As a private practitioner, he has handled matters ranging from civil litigation, landlord/tenant matters, guardianships, land use and municipal law, juvenile law, appellate law, and pro bono custody matters through the Chester County Bar Association’s Access to Justice Program. Thomas served as Solicitor for the Elk Township Zoning Hearing Board and as an Arbitration Panel Member deciding civil matters less than $50,000.00. He is Chair of CCBA Criminal Defense Section, and Co-Chair of CCBA Civil Litigation Section.