Penn State University Dickinson School of Law names new board members

A 1980 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law, Judge Jones was appointed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by President George W. Bush in 2002. A native of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Judge Jones began his legal career as a clerk to the Honorable Guy Bowe, president judge of Schuylkill County. He then joined Dolbin & Cori, where he later became a named partner. In 1986, Judge Jones began his private practice, John Jones & Associates.

 

Judge Jones served as co-chair for Governor Tom Ridge’s Labor and Industry transition team. In 1995, he was nominated by Governor Ridge ’72 to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (LCB) and later appointed as chairman, a position he held until his appointment to the bench. Jones was named by Time magazine as one of the world’s most influential people in 2006 for his landmark decision in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover School District case where he ruled that it was unconstitutional to teach intelligent design within a public school science curriculum.

 

Mr. Patton is a 1983 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law and, in addition to serving as chairman of Young Conaway, he is a partner in its Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring Section. He is nationally recognized for his representation of large troubled companies and his involvement in complex asbestos bankruptcies. Mr. Patton has been ranked as a leading bankruptcy/restructuring lawyer in Chambers USA - America's Leading Business Lawyers since its inception. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and chair of the American Bar Association’s Claims Trading Subcommittee. He is also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and serves as chairman of the Chapter 11 Committee of the Bankruptcy Law Section of the Delaware Bar Association.  

 

The Penn State Dickinson Law School Board of Counselors provides advice and strategic guidance to the Law School and offers input on external relations from a broad range of important constituencies. The current board members include leaders such as the first Secretary of Homeland Security and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge '72; U.S. Court of Appeals Judge D. Brooks Smith '76; U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo '62; businessman and philanthropist Lewis Katz '66; board chair and noted corporate lawyer H. Laddie Montague Jr. '63; and Alcoa assistant general counsel Judith Nocito '77.