Gov. Minner Reconstitutes Judicial Nominating Commission and Names New Members
Dover – Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced Saturday that she had reconstituted the Judicial Nominating Commission and appointed new members.
“Yesterday, I signed Executive Order No. 4 reconstituting the Judicial Nominating Commission, which makes recommendations to me as to who should be appointed to fill vacancies on the Delaware bench,” Gov. Minner said. “Today, I am announcing the new members and, early next week, the commission will begin its work by soliciting applications for a vacancy on the Family Court bench in New Castle County.”
Since it was first created by Gov. Pete du Pont, the Judicial Nominating Commission has resulted in Delaware having the most prestigious judiciary in the country. As with all previous Judicial Nominating Commissions, this commission is politically balanced, with five Democrats and four Republicans.
Michael Parkowski, Esq., of Dover, will chair the commission. Parkowski is a former president of the Delaware State Bar Association and the Kent County Bar Association. He has served as chairman of the Governor’s Magistrate Screening Committee as well as committees on citizen involvement in the judicial system and revision of internal procedures in the Family Court.
The other members of the commission named Saturday are:
§ Antoine Allen, of Wilmington, director of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League and the former director of Public Allies of Delaware.
§ R. Franklin Balotti, Esq., who has been named by the Delaware State Bar Association as its representative on the Judicial Nominating Commission. Balotti is a partner at the Wilmington law firm of Richards, Layton & Finger, a former chairman of the Delaware State Bar Association and author of one of the authoritative treatises on Delaware corporation law as well as numerous other articles on corporate law. He has been a visiting professor at law schools around the United States, and has chaired dozens of American Bar Association and Delaware State Bar Association committees.
§ Grover C. Brown, Esq., former Chancellor of Delaware’s prestigious Chancery Court, with a total of fourteen years on the bench as a Family Court judge, Vice Chancellor, and Chancellor. Much of Delaware’s corporate law exists as a result of opinions written by Chancellor Brown.
§ I.G. Burton of Sussex County, a businessman who operates a retail automobile dealership.
§ Ben T. Castle, Esq., a partner at Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor in Wilmington who is widely recognized as one of Delaware’s finest trial lawyers. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, a prestigious group of the 100 finest trial lawyers in the United States. He is a former member of the Board on Professional Responsibility for lawyers, and a former member of the Judicial Nominating Commission.
§ Norma Derrickson of Sussex County, a returning member of the Commission who has been a member since the administration of Governor Castle.
§ Elizabeth McGeever, Esq., a partner at the law firm of Prickett, Jones & Elliott in Wilmington, where she specializes in corporate and commercial litigation. McGeever co-chaired for four years the American Bar Association’s committee on class action and derivative lawsuits, and she is a member of the corporation law council of the Delaware State Bar Association.
§ Phyllis McKinley of Dover, a businesswoman.
“I am very pleased that this diverse group of decorated attorneys and committed members of the public has agreed to serve on the Judicial Nominating Commission,” Gov. Minner said. “I’m confident that they will do their jobs well and help fulfill my commitment to keeping our judiciary the best in America.”
