Pennsylvania Bar Association group honors Nealon for judicial excellence

Apr. 15—A Pennsylvania Bar Association group has honored Lackawanna County Judge Terrence R. Nealon with an award for excellence as a judge.

The bar association's civil litigation section will present its Civil Litigation Professional Excellence Award to Nealon during its retreat April 21-23 in Hershey.

The award goes to lawyers "who have achieved outstanding advocacy skills with the utmost professionalism, integrity and civility, and judges who have demonstrated, encouraged and promoted professionalism, integrity and civility within the civil justice system." Nealon is only the second recipient. The section instituted the award last year, according to a news release.

"In terms of writing judicial opinions that reaffirm, guide and/or advance Pennsylvania jurisprudence in a wide variety of areas of the law, there is perhaps no other jurist who has done more in this regard than Judge Terrence R. Nealon," one person who is unnamed and nominated him for the award wrote, according to the release. "The manner in which Judge Nealon runs his courtroom serves as the highest example to members of the bar in terms of faithful adherence to the highest ethical standards and professionalism ... that requires all who enter to treat one another and the court with civility, courtesy and fairness in dealing with others."

Nealon has served on the county court of common pleas since 1998, after Gov. Tom Ridge nominated him that April to fill a vacancy. The state Senate unanimously confirmed him a month later. He was sworn in as a judge on June 29, 1998, by his father, U.S. District Judge William J. Nealon. He won a full 10-year term in the November 1999 election. Voters retained him for 10 more years in the 2009 and 2019 elections.

Before becoming a judge, Nealon served as a principal of the Foley, McLane, Nealon, Foley & McDonald law firm in Scranton for 10 years. He joined the firm after graduating law school in 1984, when it was known as Thomas J. Foley Jr. & Associates. Nealon earned his law degree from Dickinson School of Law and a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of Scranton.

"I'm humbled to have been nominated and even considered to receive this award and very gratified to have been very fortunate enough to have been chosen to receive it," Nealon said in an interview.

Attorney Daniel E. Cummins, a Clarks Summit-based lawyer who specializes in defending insurance companies in personal injury cases, has practiced before Nealon for 25 years.

"He's well-known across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for his well-written and thoroughly researched judicial opinions that many (county) judges and appellate judges rely on to get up to speed on the law on any particular matter," Cummins said.

Cummins said Nealon has led efforts to promote the use of Zoom and other technologies to minor court proceedings.

The bar association said the state Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts in 2020 appointed Nealon chairman of a group to recommend steps to resuming jury trials once the COVID-19 emergency ended. He has also served as president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges and co-chairman of its education committee. He was the first chairman of the conference's school for new judges and has served as an instructor since 2012.

From 2016 to 2022, Nealon served as the first chairman of the Continuing Judicial Education Board of Judges and previously served as vice president of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors and a member of the Joint State Government Commission Advisory Committee on Medical Professional Liability.

Nealon now serves on a state Supreme Court subcommittee working on standardizing instructions for juries in civil cases.

He presents continuing legal education seminars for the civil litigation section and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and frequently lectures for legal organizations and law schools. His past awards include: the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association President's Award; Lackawanna Bar Association Chief Justice Michael J. Eagan Award and its President's Award; and Catholic Healthcare Partners Founder Award for Excellence in Governance Leadership.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.