The bench in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas has, in the recent past, been depleted by several scandals that resulted in the resignation of three sitting judges in the face of Federal indictments. A fourth lost his bid for retention in November and left the bench at the end of 2009. These events follow the prior removal of a sitting judge as a result of disciplinary action taken by the Court of Judicial Discipline.
A practical consequence of these recent developments was a burgeoning civil trial list. However, recent developments are addressing and will hopefully ameliorate the back-log of cases. The Deputy Court Administrator has confirmed that cases previously certified for trial but not reached are now being assigned. This progress is the result of the recent addition of five new judges to the bench in the County.
William Amesbury, 61, of Wilkes-Barre and Tina Polachek Gartley, 43, of Plains Township were elected in November 2009. Judge Amesbury was formerly a District Magistrate in Wilkes-Barre who, in the past worked as a laborer, teacher, social worker, and attorney. He has handled civil litigation matters and elder law. Judge Polachek-Gartley spent eighteen years as a practicing attorney. The central focus of her career was family law and protecting the rights of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. She is a former Assistant District Attorney. Both were sworn in on January 4, 2010.
A third new judge, Joseph Cosgrove, 53, was sworn in on January 29, 2010. Prior to his appointment he was in private law practice since 1982 and previously served as a Superior Court law clerk and Luzerne County assistant public defender and conflict counsel. Judge Cosgrove has also has been an adjunct faculty member at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, teaching constitutional law and civil rights. He is also a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is a past president of both the Luzerne County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
The most recent additions to the Luzerne County bench are Lewis Wetzel and Joseph Van Jura. They were sworn in March 20, 2010. Judge Wetzel was formerly a partner in the law firm of Wetzel, Caverly, Shea, Phillips and Rodgers in Wilkes-Barre. He focused on civil matters, particularly those involving real estate. Wetzel, a 1965 graduate of Lafayette College, received his law degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1968. Judge Van Jura was a sole practitioner with an office in Forty Fort. He focused on civil litigation, including personal injury cases, and also served as solicitor for the Hanover Area School Board. Van Jura is a 1968 graduate of King’s College. He received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1970 and was admitted to the bar in 1972.
As a result of these additions to the bench in Luzerne County, expect to see any cases you have venued there begin to move more quickly, or at least, to start moving.
For more information on this issue, please contact Norman D. Namey, Esquire at nnamey@tthlaw.com.