February 03, 2010 12:00 am •
Penn State University Dickinson School of Law appointed U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III and James L. Patton Jr., chairman of Delaware law firm Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, to its board of counselors on Jan. 23.
A 1980 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law, Jones was appointed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 2002 by then President George W. Bush, a news release from the Carlisle-based law school says.
A native of Pottsville, Jones began his legal career as a clerk to Guy Bowe, president judge of Schuylkill County. He then joined Dolbin & Cori, where he later became a named partner. In 1986, Jones began his private practice, John Jones & Associates.
Jones served as co-chair for Gov. Tom Ridge’s labor and industry transition team. In 1995, he was nominated by Ridge to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board 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, when he ruled that it was unconstitutional to teach intelligent design within a public school science curriculum.
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. Patton has been ranked as a leading bankruptcy/restructuring lawyer in legal publications.
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 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 Ridge, a 1972 graduate; U.S. Court of Appeals Judge D. Brooks Smith, a 1976 graduate; U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo, a 1962 graduate; businessman and philanthropist Lewis Katz, a 1966 graduate; board chair and noted corporate lawyer H. Laddie Montague Jr. a 1963 graduate; and Alcoa assistant general counsel Judith Nocito, a 1977 graduate.
