Openly gay attorney Robert Tuerk’s practice has provided him experience in criminal defense, civil, personal-injury cases and an array of other areas, including traffic law — a field in which he hopes to bring his expertise to the next level.
Tuerk is vying against 11 opponents for the one open seat on the Philadelphia Traffic Court in next month’s primary election.
Tuerk, who attained his law degree 21 years ago, said he was drawn toward running for the judgeship after learning there are no attorneys on the bench.
“There hasn’t been a lawyer judge sitting on the Traffic Court for decades, so I thought it was definitely time to put a lawyer onto that court in light of the fact that there are some really complex legal issues that they have to be deciding,” he said.
Tuerk described that in the past decade he’s had a very “broad-based” legal experience — that includes serving as general counsel to several international companies and as an arbitrator for the civil division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas — although he said he’s always had a passion for representing marginalized clients.
“I was always a person who felt as though people needed to be treated fairly or equally. Even as a kid when I saw situations where people weren’t being treated justly, I felt like I needed to do something about it,” he said. “Once I became a lawyer, I’ve always basically wanted to work to have some effect on the status quo and how it relates to LGBT people, especially. Even in law school, I would raise my hand a lot of times and say, ‘Wait, this or that isn’t fair to people of other sexual orientations,’ and back then in the ’80s people would look at me like I was crazy because no one was bringing up those questions then, but it was something I believed in.”
Tuerk was one of the original members of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s LGBT Committee, served as a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia and currently sits on the Police Liaison Committee, which fosters relations between police and the LGBT community.
In 2006, Tuerk reactivated the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Traffic/Vehicular Law Committee and chaired the panel until 2008 and, in his own practice, has handled numerous traffic-related cases.
He said the scope of Traffic Court is vast and that a legal perspective would be a welcome and needed addition to the bench.
“I think one of the main problems is that people in all areas of society don’t really understand how Traffic Court fits into the whole judicial process and what’s included and not included in Traffic Court,” he said. “Traffic Court violations are summary criminal offenses, and Traffic Court has the authority to sentence people up to six months in jail. There are actual issues that involve the Pennsylvania Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, rules of criminal procedure, local traffic-code rules, the vehicle code — I think it’s very important to have a lawyer up there to give people the full understanding and full confidence that their case has been decided on the merits of the law and nothing else.”
Tuerk said he’s eager for LGBT community support, as volunteers and voters.
“As many people who can help me put out the word that I’m the most qualified candidate would be great — and that’s regardless of sexual orientation. And we need everyone to get out and vote May 17.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].