Richard B. Klein
RICHARD B. KLEIN served as a trial and then appellate judge in Pennsylvania until he retired after 36 years on the bench. He was the youngest judge in the history of Pennsylvania when he first was appointed to Philadelphia’s common pleas court. He pioneered many new programs designed to improve the civil justice system, especially in the mass tort program and programs designed to improve the jury selection procedures.
After 28 years on the trial bench, he was elected to Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate court, the Superior Court, where he served for eight years. When running for election for the Superior Court, he received the highest rating from the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the endorsement of every paper that made endorsements. He received the highest vote count of the six candidates.
Since retiring from the bench in 2010, he has served as a mediator, arbitrator, and appellate and trial consultant. He joined McElroy Deutsch in January 2023.
He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College and an honors graduate of Harvard Law School. He spent fifteen years teaching Legal Writing and Trial Advocacy at Temple University School of Law.
He received certifications in mediation both from the National Judicial College in Nevada and the American Bar Association Mediation Training for Judges in Annapolis, Maryland. He received arbitration certification following and American Arbitration Association training in Boston.
He was the co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee for ten years until he stepped down at the end of 2022. He remains an active member of that committee and the Pennsylvania Bar Association ADR and Appellate Advocacy Committees. He served for six years on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Appellate Rules Committee. He was a long-time member of the Pennsylvania Bar House of Delegates.
He continues to be active in many committees to improve the justice system. He is the founding chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Plain English Committee and again is serving as co-chair. He is the Chair of the Pennsylvania Futures Commission on Justice in the 21st Century, a broad-based committee to make recommendations for long-range planning for the Pennsylvania justice system.
He is a frequent author, educator and lecturer. He is co-author of the Thompson Reuters Book, Trial Communication Skills, written with Body Language author Julius Fast and international al lawyer Roberto Aron. The book is now in its second edition. He writes a monthly blog on all aspects of the justice system. He lectures frequently on a wide range of subjects, including topics such as representing a Client at Mediation, Effective Writing, Appellate Advocacy, Body Language in the Courtroom, and numerous ethical issues.
He has served as education leader for eighteen international legal-study tours. He is also known as the leader and drummer of the jazz groups, “the Reading Terminals” and “the Moonlighters.”
- Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Sir Francis Bacon award, given to an individual who excels in alternative dispute resolution and has had a significant professional impact in ADR in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolade is based can be found HERE (No aspect of the advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court).
- Pennsylvania Bar Association’s “Clarity Award,” its highest award for legal writing in recognition of his clear and concise opinions and for promoting the use of Plain English in the justice system and the legal community.
RICHARD B. KLEIN served as a trial and then appellate judge in Pennsylvania until he retired after 36 years on the bench. He was the youngest judge in the history of Pennsylvania when he first was appointed to Philadelphia’s common pleas court. He pioneered many new programs designed to improve the civil justice system, especially in the mass tort program and programs designed to improve the jury selection procedures.
After 28 years on the trial bench, he was elected to Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate court, the Superior Court, where he served for eight years. When running for election for the Superior Court, he received the highest rating from the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the endorsement of every paper that made endorsements. He received the highest vote count of the six candidates.
Since retiring from the bench in 2010, he has served as a mediator, arbitrator, and appellate and trial consultant. He joined McElroy Deutsch in January 2023.
He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College and an honors graduate of Harvard Law School. He spent fifteen years teaching Legal Writing and Trial Advocacy at Temple University School of Law.
He received certifications in mediation both from the National Judicial College in Nevada and the American Bar Association Mediation Training for Judges in Annapolis, Maryland. He received arbitration certification following and American Arbitration Association training in Boston.
He was the co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee for ten years until he stepped down at the end of 2022. He remains an active member of that committee and the Pennsylvania Bar Association ADR and Appellate Advocacy Committees. He served for six years on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Appellate Rules Committee. He was a long-time member of the Pennsylvania Bar House of Delegates.
He continues to be active in many committees to improve the justice system. He is the founding chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Plain English Committee and again is serving as co-chair. He is the Chair of the Pennsylvania Futures Commission on Justice in the 21st Century, a broad-based committee to make recommendations for long-range planning for the Pennsylvania justice system.
He is a frequent author, educator and lecturer. He is co-author of the Thompson Reuters Book, Trial Communication Skills, written with Body Language author Julius Fast and international al lawyer Roberto Aron. The book is now in its second edition. He writes a monthly blog on all aspects of the justice system. He lectures frequently on a wide range of subjects, including topics such as representing a Client at Mediation, Effective Writing, Appellate Advocacy, Body Language in the Courtroom, and numerous ethical issues.
He has served as education leader for eighteen international legal-study tours. He is also known as the leader and drummer of the jazz groups, “the Reading Terminals” and “the Moonlighters.”
- Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Sir Francis Bacon award, given to an individual who excels in alternative dispute resolution and has had a significant professional impact in ADR in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolade is based can be found HERE (No aspect of the advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court).
- Pennsylvania Bar Association’s “Clarity Award,” its highest award for legal writing in recognition of his clear and concise opinions and for promoting the use of Plain English in the justice system and the legal community.
