SIDEBAR Fall 2019 - 6

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

SIDEBAR FEATURE

REPORT OF THE AUTONOMOUS
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
OF THE MONTGOMERY BAR
ASSOCIATION FOR 2019 ELECTION
The following candidates for Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, were
rated by the Committee as:

NOT RECOMMENDED

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Matthew T. Hovey

Virgil B. Walker

Robert Zigmund

These candidates possess superior qualifications to serve
with distinction as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Each possesses an exceptional
level of integrity, good moral character, industry, legal ability and
experience, courtroom experience, and judicial temperament,
to be rated as HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Each candidate,
through these traits and his or her legal experience, commitment
to justice, to the community, and to the practice of law, has
earned this HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating from the
Committee. A candidate may only earn the rating of HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED if eighty percent (80%) or more of those
members of the Committee casting a ballot vote that candidate as
"Highly Recommended."

These candidates do not possess the qualifications to serve
as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania. Each of these candidates elected not to
participate in the Committee's judicial ratings process, thereby
preventing the public from being informed about the candidates'
qualifications. The candidates failed to submit a questionnaire
for the Committee's review and investigation, or to appear to be
interviewed by the Committee. Notwithstanding this failure to
abide by the rules and procedures of the Committee applicable to
all judicial candidates, the Committee offered the candidates an
additional opportunity to participate by supplying each of them
with a copy of the Committee's questionnaire for completion
and submission and by noticing dates on which the candidates
would appear before the Committee for an interview. The
candidates again refused to participate in the process and neither
submitted a questionnaire nor appeared for an interview before
the Committee. On this basis the Committee rated each of these
candidates as NOT RECOMMENDED to serve as Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
By avoiding examination through the Committee's judicial ratings
process, which informs and educates the public concerning a
candidate's qualifications, each candidate has demonstrated to
the Committee a lack of integrity, judicial temperament and
industry necessary to serve in the important public office of
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and therefore are NOT
RECOMMENDED.

RECOMMENDED
Henry S. Hilles, III
Melissa Schwartz-Sterling
These candidates possess the qualifications to serve as Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania. Each possesses the appropriate levels of integrity,
good moral character, industry, legal ability and experience,
courtroom experience, and judicial temperament, to be rated as
RECOMMENDED. Each candidate has the legal experience,
commitment to justice, the community and the practice of law, to
be rated as RECOMMENDED by the Committee.
6 SIDEBAR

Gregg Richman
http://montgomerybar.org
SIDEBAR Fall 2019

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