Hon Lisette Shirdan-Harris

Mental Health First Connect

Hon Lisette Shirdan-Harris

The Honorable Lisette Shirdan-Harris was first elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2005.  In November 2020, she was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to serve as Administrative Judge of the court’s Trial Division overseeing Pennsylvania’s largest jurisdiction which includes the Civil, Criminal, and Commerce sections. 

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the court’s development of new jury trial procedures and remote hearings. Prior to assuming her current role, she served in the Family, Criminal, and Civil Trial Divisions and most recently served as Supervising Judge of the Civil section. She is a frequent speaker and panelist both nationally and internationally and has presented at the United Nations and twice at the Vatican. Judge Shirdan-Harris served as Chair of the First Judicial District’s Judicial Education Committee and was an appointed member of both the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges’ Education Committee and currently serves on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Civil Jury Instruction Committee and is on faculty at Pennsylvania’s new judge school. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the 2020 Distinguished Jurist Award from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law; Temple University’s Gallery of Success; and the Barristers Association Judge Leon Higginbotham Award. 

She is active in both civic and legal organizations and is the immediate past International Director of the National Association of Women Judges and the U.S. North American Delegate to the International Association of Women Judges. Judge Shirdan-Harris is a Philadelphia native who attended Oakwood College and Temple University and earned her juris doctor degree from Loyola University of Chicago.
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