Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Spring 2020 - 11

w w w.BERKSBAR.org

cases, and more. She describes her courtroom filled to the brink
with boxes, binders, papers, and projector equipment for trials.
Her relaxed conversational style reminds me of a brain
surgeon casually chatting about their intricate work as if
discussing a dinner menu. "She makes this look easy," I think
to myself.

As if on cue, she explains that one of the highlights of her
job is to "to serve the legal community in hopes that it serves
the rest of the community." She notes that "to be efficient and
helpful to the legal community" in turn "make[s] it easier for
them to serve their clients."

Describing her confidence in Berks citizens, she says, "I
am ceaselessly, enormously impressed with the juries," because
despite how disruptive and inconvenient jury duty can be,
each juror "undergoes a visible transformation and they take
it seriously, really seriously." In the end, "they do a really,
really impressive job of learning a lot about things they know
nothing about." In many scenarios, "it's a lot of complicated
information being given to them," and the "lawyers have
prepared these cases for years and they have a compressed
period of time to teach the jury."

Judge Fudeman also appreciates the dedication of the court
staff.

The Honorable
Madelyn S. Fudeman
Orchestral music plays in the softly illuminated chambers.
The room is elegant and warm, beautifully decorated with
maroon, paisley-printed chairs. Judge Fudeman tells me she is
an avid reader of biographies, history, and novels. Gold-accented
diplomas line the wall, providing contrast against bookshelves
filled with photos, legal books, and artwork.

Judge Fudeman proclaims: "I never felt disadvantaged by
being a woman. I've never felt anything other than working hard
generated results that earned respect."
That no-nonsense attitude was what led her to a judgeship.
"It just seemed like a good way to end a legal career - it seemed
like a nice finale," she explains. "Life is too short to just do one
thing, so I have done a lot of different things in my life." She
adds, "And I don't know that being a judge will be the last thing
I do."

Judge Fudeman identifies that the least favorable scenarios
she has seen involve "any case where ... children's futures appear
bleak," such as dependency, criminal, or difficult custody cases.

These days, she manages a civil docket with a different
consumer, different demand, and different needs to be addressed.
The "volume of work is very different in civil," she says, rattling
off a long list of possible scenarios, like commercial disputes,
corporate disputes, cases with millions of dollars at stake,
municipal disputes, land use and zoning, medical malpractice

In the future, she admits she could see herself writing a
novel or a biography, adding, "I love researching." The Judge
also enjoys growing flowers. In college, she studied journalism,
political science, and French. She recalls the French Translation
exam was harder than the bar exam.
At the Bergen Record in New Jersey, she covered a story
involving inspection of dog kennels. They "weren't being
inspected properly and one of the kennels collapsed and some
dogs were hurt.

"I have always been an 'animal person,'" she says. Finn, her
five-year-old Australian Shepherd, sometimes attends court.
"People generally don't know he's there," but then someone will
hear him crunching on a bully stick. She shows me a photo of
Finn, a beautiful pup with brown locks. She also handed me
unframed photos of two dogs she had previously owned, an
Australian Shepherd and a Cavalier.
Judge Fudeman believes that "running for office is
something that every American should do," as it is so
important "to understand the dynamics." A challenge for
her was the tremendous size of Berks County. Working as
a reporter for WGAL and then as a correspondent for the
Reading Eagle provided her with valuable insight about local
residents and the community: "There's no better place to get
the lay of the land than a newsroom."

Whether as journalist or judge, Judge Fudeman identifies
with a "natural proclivity for advocacy. I always felt I had to
defend people or represent people."
continued on next page
Spring 2020 | 11
http://www.berksbar.org
Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Spring 2020
