The law firm of McCarter & English, LLP announced via a press release that former Delaware Superior Court Judge Peggy L. Ableman has joined the office in Wilmington, Delaware. Ableman will serve as special counsel in the firm’s Product Liability practice group.
“Peggy is a dear friend of mine who has had a long career as a leader on the bench and in the courtroom,” said Firm Chairman Michel P. Kelly. “She has played a significant role in shaping Delaware law for the past three decades and is nationally known and admired in the toxic tort arena. With that track record we firmly believe that her commitment to the law, years of experience and level of expertise will be invaluable to our clients. We welcome her into the product liability practice at McCarter, where I look forward to working alongside her.”
“I have always had a deep respect for Mike and McCarter,” said Judge Ableman. “I am eager to practice law again, particularly in the area of product liability, which continues to have a broad and complex array of issues and industries to litigate.”
Ableman began her career on the bench in the Delaware Family Court, serving as a judge for 17 years. When she began there, Ableman was just the second woman to work as a member of the state’s judiciary. While with the Superior Court, Ableman presided over asbestos litigation dockets for two years. This included 500 cases from across the world.
Prior to becoming a judge, Ableman worked as the first female Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Delaware. She held this position from 1979 to 1983. She was awarded the Chief Justice’s Award for Outstanding Judicial Service in 1995. She was the first recipient of that award.
Ableman works now as an adjunct professor at Villanova School of Law. She belongs to the National Association of Women Judges, the American Bar Association, the Delaware Bar Association, and the Bench-Bar-Media Committee of the Supreme Court. She was the chair of the Bench-Bar-Media Committee of the Supreme Court in 2010 and 2011.
Ableman is serving on the Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court’s Executive Committee and was previously the Court’s president. She earned her B.A. from Simmons College in Boston and her J.D. from Emory University School of Law. She was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1975.
The firm was established over 160 years ago and it employs over 400 attorneys in Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Stamford and Wilmington.