President Judge Kate Ford Elliott named president of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal

Williamsburg, Va. (Nov. 23, 2010) — President Judge Kate Ford Elliott of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently was elected president of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal (CCJSCA) at the council’s annual conference in Napa, Calif. She will serve a one-year term. 

Judge Ford Elliott has been president judge of the Superior Court since Jan. 9, 2006. She was elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in November 1989 and retained in 1999 and 2009.

A member of the Allegheny County, Pa., and American Bar associations, Judge Ford Elliott is past chairperson of the Allegheny County Appellate Practice Committee, a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Judicial Administration Division, and former vice chair of the Pennsylvania Futures Commission on Justice in the 21st Century, which was established by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She also has been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Commission on Justice Initiatives.

Born June 8, 1949, in Pittsburgh, Judge Ford Elliott earned a bachelor’s from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971 and her juris doctor from Duquesne University School of Law in 1978. She has served on the Executive Board of the ABA Committee of Appellate Staff Attorneys and is a frequent lecturer on appellate practice and procedure.

Established in 1980, the CCJSCA serves as “a body for consultation and education concerning the improvement of the administration of justice, rules, and methods of procedure, and the organization and operation of the state intermediate appellate courts.” The council's mission is advanced through the participation of intermediate appellate court leaders, including past, current, and future chief judges. The council provides past, current, and future chief judges the opportunity to share ideas about different ways to solve common problems, learn about effective programs instituted in other intermediate appellate courts, and examine ways to promote efficiency and fiscal responsibility in our own courts. 

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.