Norris McLaughlin Welcomes Judge Giordano to Pennsylvania Office

The law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., is pleased to welcome the Honorable Emil Giordano (Ret.) as a Member of the firm.  He joins the firm’s Litigation Practice Group as Co-Chair and focuses his practice on estate and commercial litigation, and mediation and arbitration.

Judge Giordano served as a presiding judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, Third Judicial District, from 2004 through 2018. He was Northampton County’s first administrative Judge of the Orphans County Division, overseeing estates and trusts of the county, and was named to the Statewide Orphans Court Task Force, an organization charged with implementing changes to Orphans Court. Judge Giordano was also the first Judge in Pennsylvania to institute guardianship certification requirements for the protection of senior citizens.

For fifteen years, Judge Giordano served as Judge for many jury trials and non-jury trials, hearings and motions, and a wide range of disputes under Pennsylvania and Federal Law, including construction, commercial litigation, professional malpractice, CERCLA, Civil Rights, condemnations, labor and land use appeals, criminal, and domestic relations.

As an arbitrator and mediator, Judge Giordano is certified through Harvard Law School Negotiation Institute in Advanced Mediation, is a fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, and is affiliated with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Mediation.

Judge Giordano is a member of Board of Governors for Saint Thomas More Society, and the Northampton County Bar Association Wills and Trusts Committee Lecturer. In 2005, he was the first judicial recipient to receive the Lehigh Valley Crime Victims Council Award for Outstanding Commitment to Victim’s Rights. He was also a recipient of the Bethlehem Catholic High School Distinguished Graduate Award.

Judge Giordano earned his J.D. in 1985 from Villanova University School of Law and his B.A. from Moravian College in 1982. A proud Moravian College alumnus, he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor for Undergraduate classes. Born in Brooklyn to Italian immigrant parents, Judge Giordano was the first to attend high school and is a graduate of Bethlehem Catholic High School.