Judge Matthew Wolf Runs for Commonwealth Court

Candidate: Judge Matthew Wolf

Court: Commonwealth

Party: Democrat

Pennsylvania Bar Association rating: Recommended

The following has been edited lightly for length and style.

The Legal: Tell us about your background, where you went to law school, what firms you have practiced at, and areas of law you focus on.

Judge Matthew Wolf: My father was a lawyer, and I started working with him in college. I went to Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans and finished as a visiting student at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, while I continued to work with my father. We were partners eventually, and then I went out on my own. I only worked at one other firm, Cohen Seglias, in Philadelphia from 2000 to 2001. Other than that I have been on my own. I started out doing complex commercial litigation, and that evolved into civil rights work, mostly employment discrimination, wrongful termination and claims against the government by individuals. I did a lot of work for recovery homes under the Fair Housing Act fighting attempts to shut them down.

The Legal: What is one major thing about your career experience that most qualifies you for this position, and why?

Wolf: I’ve been a judge for over five years. No other candidate who has qualified to run for the Commonwealth Court, Republican or Democrat, has served as a judge, and this is an appellate (with some original jurisdiction) position that should require judicial experience. I have a lot of first-chair trial and appellate experience as well. I am well regarded as a judge, having received an award from the Philadelphia Bar Association, and I am now supervising the Civil Division of the Philadelphia Municipal Court, which is a recognition of my abilities to engage in judicial management.

The Legal: What is the main reason Pennsylvania voters should pick you?

Wolf: I have years judicial experience, and I currently serve as a judge. My plaintiffs civil rights background informed my role as a judge who focuses on equity and access to justice. I’ve made many policy changes in the Civil Division of the Philadelphia Municipal Court with an eye toward equity and access to justice. I am recommended by the state Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association to be a judge on the Commonwealth Court.

The Legal: What will be your approach to moving matters efficiently through the case management system? 

Wolf: A solid work ethic. I practice law for 25 years, mostly on my own, and prepared cases for trial. I picked juries and got verdicts. That was hard work. I’ve carried that work ethic through as a judge where I serve as a supervisor of the Civil Division, for which I receive no additional pay, but feel as though I can make the system better as a result of my involvement. I plan on applying that work ethic to my work as a Commonwealth judge, which I understand is a busy court.

The Legal: What would you say to voters regarding your plans to ensure the equal administration of justice for all people?

Wolf: Judge me not by what I promise to do, but what I have accomplished already. Evictions were disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic female heads of households and as the architect of the court-ordered eviction diversion program, I helped contribute to ameliorate the disproportionate impact arising out of our court for evictions during the pandemic by requiring pre-filing mediation, which, during the peak of the expenditure of the $300 million of federal funds in Philadelphia County resulted in 93% of cases resolved in pre-filing. A tremendous judicial management tool that benefited landlords and tenants. We were never hit with the tidal wave of evictions. Additionally, I have been focusing on purchased-debt cases, of which thousands of cases pass through our courts. We are focused on reducing default judgments and working with creditor attorneys to ensure that cases are properly processed and adjudicated. This is equity work because judgments (which, again, disproportionately affect Black and Hispanics female heads of households) prevent people from getting quality licensed apartments and mortgages, housing in general, in the poorest large city in North America, where we also have a housing crisis. We’ve made many changes to ensure there is access to justice from our newly designed website to how we handle unrepresented litigants in our court, making it more user friendly and manageable.

The Legal: Where can voters go for more information about you?

Wolf: www.judgemattwolf.com