Out Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Abbe Fletman is looking to bring her more-than 25 years as a trial lawyer — and nearly a year as a judge — back to the bench.
Fletman was nominated by former Gov. Tom Corbett to fill a Common Pleas vacancy last summer and was later unanimously approved by the Senate. She now is among several-dozen Common Pleas candidates up for election next month.
Fletman, 55, ran for the bench in 2013 but withdrew from the race after drawing an unfavorable ballot position. This time around, she pulled the 14th spot.
She is one of just three Common Pleas candidates — including fellow out candidate Chris Mallios — who was given a “highly recommended” rating by the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Fletman, a native of Northeast Philadelphia, earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1988 and, later, a master’s of law from Temple University Beasley School of Law in trial advocacy.
She has deep roots in the local LGBT and legal communities.
In the 1980s, she served as the first female co-chair of the organization that went on to become the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia and of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Legal Rights of Lesbians and Gay Men Committee, which she helped found. Fletman co-chaired former Mayor John Street’s LGBT Advisory Board for six years, served as a commissioner of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and sat on Equality Forum’s National Board of Governors.
On the national level, she helped establish the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s LGBT Litigator Committee and co-chairs the ABA’s Criminal Litigation Committee.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Fletman was a partner at Wolf Block and later Flaster/Greenberg, where she was a commercial litigator.
Fletman is now one of four out judges on the Court of Common Pleas. She said the makeup of the local judiciary represents the diversity of the city well.
“It is important to have representation. I think it’s important for the integrity of the system that all people feel like they are going to be treated fairly by our justice system, and one way of doing that is to have a judiciary that reflects the composition of the city. I do think the First Judicial District does an excellent job in that regard,” she said. “I can tell you when I walk now to meetings of Common Pleas judges, there are men, women, African-Americans, Latinos, openly gay people; it’s a diverse group compared to other groups of judges I’m familiar with. And I think that’s a good thing.”
Fletman said there are several factors that make her the most qualified candidate, chief among them her 26 years a trial attorney.
“I’m very well-acquainted with the courts, the courtroom and how the system works,” she said. And, as a lifelong Philadelphian who has lived in a number of different areas of the city, she said she also has a deep understanding of and knowledge about Philadelphia.
“I have the intellect, I’m hard-working, and I have the judgment and temperament that you need as a judge, “ Fletman added, noting she runs her courtroom with a Socrates quote in mind: “Judges should hear courteously, speak wisely, deliberate soberly and decide impartially.”
“Those are the things I try to do on a daily basis,” she said.
Fletman said she appreciates the strong support she has received from the LGBT community.
“Certainly having the support of the LGBT community is meaningful to me personally and also important to the campaign,” she said.
Fletman has been scheduling campaigning around her duties as a judge, as well as a wife and mother. Fletman has been with her wife for 30 years and the couple has two children, a 24-year-old son and a 22-year-old daughter who is graduating college this spring. And, she’s also training for her fifth Broad Street Run next month.
“I’m very, very busy,” she laughed, noting she’ll be doing some campaigning while she runs — wearing an “Elect Judge Fletman” shirt.
For more information on Fletman, visit www.abbeforjudge.com.