Gerald A. McHugh, Jr., a 1979 Law School graduate, was confirmed on April 2 as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He officially took office on May 20, the clerk’s office at the District Court said.
His confirmation came 237 days after his nomination by President Barack Obama on August 1, 2013.
“He is well known throughout Pennsylvania as a brilliant trial and appellate lawyer, for his commitment to his community in West Philadelphia, and for his mastery of the law,” Partner of Raynes McCarty Trial and Appellate Lawyers Stephen Raynes, who is a friend and former colleague of McHugh, said.
McHugh spent some time as a shareholder at the civil litigation law firm Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow and Young until 2004, when he left to become a partner at the Philadelphia law firm Raynes McCarty. His ten years of work at Raynes McCarty in complex civil litigation has garnered many distinctions, such as the title of “Philadephia Lawyer of the Year” in Product Liability by the Best Lawyers in America for the years of 2011, 2013 and 2014.
“I felt I had achieved all that I could as a lawyer, and wanted a new challenge before it was too late in my career to make a change,” McHugh said of his decision to pursue a career as a public official.
Raynes said that McHugh’s character — which he described as “brilliant, empathetic, fair and committed to giving back to the community” — is well-suited to a judge’s position.
“[McHugh] is someone who has a wonderful moral compass,” Raynes said. “I think he will endeavor to understand the facts and circumstances surrounding the decisions that he will be called upon to make, and I think he will be eminently fair concerning every issue.”
McHugh’s ascension to the bench followed a lengthy path from nomination to confirmation. Eight months after McHugh was nominated, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a successful motion to invoke cloture, which would end debate on and force a vote on the nomination, on March 26. With extensive Democratic backing, McHugh was confirmed that day in a 59 to 41, highly partisan vote. He received his commission on March 28.
McHugh collected between $50,000 and $100,000 for Obama’s 2012 campaign, making him one of the President’s biggest local bundlers.
With his confirmation behind him, McHugh’s focus has turned to his robed responsibilities.
“The administrative challenges of being a judge in a large, busy federal court are daunting,” McHugh said.
McHugh was born and raised in West Philadelphia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from St. Joseph’s University in 1976.
After graduation from law school, McHugh remained in Pennsylvania to clerk for the honorable Edmund B. Spaeth of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. He then clerked for Alfred Luongo of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — the same court where he currently practices — from 1979 to 1981.
Perhaps a reflection of his own journey to the bench, McHugh most looks forward to working with the lawyers who serve as law clerks.
“Their intellectual energy motivates a judge to be his or her best in every single case,” McHugh said.
Five vacancies currently await nomination in the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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