SIDEBAR Spring 2018 - 24

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

SIDEBAR FEATURE

Meet the Newest Members
of the Bench
The Honorable

Wendy G. Rothstein
By Lydia Terrill, Esq.
It is no secret that Judge Rothstein
has made a decades-long commitment
to serving Montgomery County and
its citizens. She has lived and worked
her entire career in Montgomery
County. In college, she worked for four
summers in the Montgomery County
Prothonotary's Office. After graduating
from college, Judge Rothstein worked
as a Social Worker in the foster care
unit at Montgomery County Office of
Children and Youth. In law school, she
volunteered at Montgomery County
Legal Aid. Upon graduating law school,
Judge Rothstein began working at
Pearlstine/Salkin Associates in Lansdale,
which later merged with Fox Rothschild.
During her professional career, she has served Montgomery
County in a variety of positions. She served as both a Discovery
Master and a Civil Case Master in the Montgomery County
Court of Common Pleas. She has served on the Montgomery
Bar Association Board of Directors and the Judiciary
Committee. She chaired the Montgomery Bar Association
Diversity Committee, where she coordinated the Summer 1L
Diversity Program, and has served as a judge for the Young
Lawyers Mock Trial Program.
During her career at Fox Rothschild, she served as the Chair
of the Montgomery County Litigation Department and the CoChair of the Tax Appeals Group. Hers is a career of firsts: she was
the first female attorney hired at the law firm of Pearlstine/Salkin
Associates in 1996, the first female appointed as a municipal
solicitor in Montgomery County in 1988, the first female
partner and first female department head at Fox Rothschild's
Montgomery County office, and the first female appointed by
the Montgomery County Board of Judges to serve as a Discovery
Master in 2001.
Judge Rothstein views the role of judge as being one of public
service. In that sense, running for judge was the next logical
step in a career that includes numerous examples of serving

24 SIDEBAR

the citizens of Montgomery County.
Of her decision to run for judge, she
describes her admiration for the judges
whom she had practiced in front of for
34 years and how she felt that it was
her time to come forward.
A theme that arose during my
conversation with Judge Rothstein was
"efficiency." When I asked what she
wanted attorneys appearing in front
of her to know about her courtroom
procedures, she described the need
to move the cases along in a fair and
efficient manner, and the need to
start on time. Judge Rothstein has a
clear respect and admiration for the
criminal process, specifically protecting
the rights of the defendants who appear in front of her. She
describes the need to look at each person's case individually, and
the importance of crafting sentences that ensure that defendants
do not return to the courtroom. She wants to get to know the
defendants and their charges, and cites recidivism and dealing
with the population of individuals with drug problems as being
some of the larger challenges. Above everything else, her goal is
to be flexible so that she can ensure that each case ends with the
right outcome. She describes serving in criminal court as being a
learning process that she finds exciting and challenging.
Judge Rothstein is a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan. She
played tennis and lacrosse in college, as well as competitive
badminton. She describes how competitive sports taught her
the importance of competition and teamwork, two skills that
have clearly served her well throughout her career. When I asked
Judge Rothstein what she was most proud of in her professional
career, she describes her community involvement in the Bar
Association, specifically her involvement in the Liberty and the
Law Program and the Summer 1L Diversity Program. I ended
my interview by asking Judge Rothstein about her favorite aspect
of being a judge. She replied simply that she loves the law, and
that she hopes she is making a difference.

https://montgomerybar.org/

SIDEBAR Spring 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SIDEBAR Spring 2018