Albert W. Sheppard, Jr.

Albert William Sheppard Jr. (June 3, 1937 - September 4, 2011) was an American judge in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania’s First Judicial District for over 27 years. He played significant leadership roles in reducing that court’s case backlog, and in establishing its business court, the Commerce Case Management Program, on which he served for its first 11 years.

Early life Sheppard was born on June 3, 1937, in the East Oak Lane section of Philadelphia. He was the oldest of three children. Sheppard attended North Catholic High School, where he starred on the football team; graduating in 1955. His father was a linotypist, who at one time worked for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, and his mother was from the Eastern Shore of Mayland, and gave him a lifelong interest in gardening.

Legal career

Law school and legal practice After his Naval service, while married to his first wife Marlene Sheppard with three children, and working during the day, Sheppard attended Temple University Law School at night. He graduated first in his class in 1968. He was an associate editor on the law review. In deciding to become a judge after practicing as a lawyer, Sheppard said he "was better suited to be a referee than a combatant". Sheppard served in the court's Family Division in the 1980s, and was its emergency judge in at least December 2006.

In 1989, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court appointed Sheppard “to chair a committee tasked with reviewing the operations of the Philadelphia court system". The committee came to informally bear Sheppard's name. In 1990, that committee issued an 89-page report recommending "innovative reforms that eliminated lengthy backlogs and improved the civil trial division so much that the National Center for State Courts has called [the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas] ‘one of the finest and most successful urban trial courts in the country’”. In response to praise over the committee's work, Sheppard was especially proud that the 16 judges worked together, and remarked, "The less said about me, the better". Sheppard was part of the group of judges and lawyers developing this new business court program. On January 1, 2000, Sheppard became one of the original two judges assigned to handle Commerce Court cases, and remained a Commerce Court judge until his death in September 2011. He wrote the Commerce Court's first legal opinion on March 7, 2000, and issued over 250 Commerce Court opinions during his tenure, making him the Commerce Court's most prolific opinion writer. He was succeeded on the Commerce Court by Judge Patricia A. McInerney.

At the time of his death, then Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Rudolph Garcia said Sheppard was instrumental in the Commerce Court's success in Philadelphia. Garcia observed that as a judge, Sheppard "was very practical and worked hard to resolve disputes by agreement, but he made tough decisions when necessary".

Awards and recognition Sheppard graduated summa cum laude from Temple University's Law School in 1968. Shortly after his death in 2011, the Philadelphia Bar Association's Board of Governors adopted a resolution recognizing “the character, leadership and achievements of the Honorable Albert W. Sheppard, Jr., an eminent Philadelphia jurist, colleague and friend….” This Fund provides a scholarship supporting a law student's year-long Commerce Court clerkship. Sheppard's alma mater, Temple University Beasley School of Law, later partnered with the Philadelphia Bar Foundation in supporting the fund, also known as the Albert W. Sheppard Fellowship Program.

Personal life and death Sheppard had a passion for music, and was a fine pianist who composed music. His son Mark became an attorney in Philadelphia, and daughter Lisa became a physician.

Sheppard died of a heart attack at his home in Philadelphia on September 4, 2011. He was survived by his three children and Marlene Sheppard, his second wife Alice C. Sheppard and stepdaughter Tanya Hayner, and nine grandchildren.