HARRISBURG – Gov. Edward G. Rendell said he was pleased that his two latest judicial nominees received unanimous confirmation by the
Pennsylvania Senate.
James Fitzgerald III, 67, of Philadelphia, was confirmed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, while the Senate granted its consent to Robert Daniels, 68, of Villanova, Delaware County, filling a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
Both were confirmed on a vote of 47-0, and will serve until the first Monday of January.
“Jim and Bob are highly qualified judges who will serve the commonwealth well,” said Rendell. “In fact, the Senate’s unanimous vote speaks
volumes about their credentials and their abilities. I applaud members of the Senate for recognizing the outstanding level of service these two gentlemen bring to the state’s judicial system.”
Fitzgerald first served on the bench when a vacancy occurred in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. After winning election to a 10-year term in 1989, Judge Fitzgerald was retained in 1999, and, in 2002, was appointed administrative judge in the trial division by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
After earning his law degree from Villanova, Fitzgerald went to work in the Office of the District Attorney and served there for 12 years. He has served as chief counsel to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, worked in private law practice and ran the government affairs division for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
Fitzgerald earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1962 from the University of Pennsylvania. He then obtained his J.D. degree from the Villanova University School of Law.
Prior to confirmation, Daniels was special counsel to the law firm of Sprague and Sprague and was a former president of the Philadelphia-based law firm of Braverman Daniels Kaskey Ltd., which engages in civil trial and appellate litigation.
Daniels has served as a past chairman and member of the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court, and as a present member of the court’s civil rules committee. He has also served as a past chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, as a past president of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, and as a permanent member of the Judicial Conference for the Third Judicial Circuit United States Court of Appeals. He has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for both the Third and Fifth circuits.
Daniels currently serves as a member of the board of trustees at the Pennsylvania State University, a member of the board of visitors of the Temple University School of Law, as a member of the development council of the Pennsylvania State University’s College of the Liberal Arts, and as a member of the board of visitors of the Terry Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.
Additionally, Daniels serves a member of the leadership council of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, as the founder and trustee of the Robert C. Daniels Foundation, and is a former trustee of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation.
Daniels is a 1959 graduate of the College of the Liberal Arts of The Pennsylvania State University, following which he obtained a J.D. degree from
the Temple University School of Law.
Both Fitzgerald and Daniels have agreed not to run for the offices for which they have been confirmed.