The Honorable Patrick J. Best was elected to the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas in 2025. His current assignments center on civil and family cases including general civil litigation, mortgage foreclosures, land use appeals, custody, protection from abuse and matters pertaining to constables, school police officers, and private detectives.

Judge Best grew up in Luzerne County. He graduated from Pittston Area Senior High School in 2003. From there, he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Public Policy. He attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and graduated in 2010 with an Advanced Certificate in Civil Litigation.

After law school, Judge Best served as a law clerk for the Honorable Carmen D. Minora in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. Once completing his term as a law clerk, Judge Best moved to Monroe County to enter the private practice of law.

In private practice, Judge Best handled a large variety of civil and family cases and served as the Solicitor for the Monroe County Sheriff and the Monroe County Controller. He also served as a Standing Divorce Hearing Officer for the Court of Common Pleas from 2015 until 2024.

Judge Best served on the Board of the Monroe County Bar Association for several years including one year as Vice President in 2025. In this position, Judge Best worked to improve the legal profession for all stakeholders including the Court, the bar, and the public at large.

He has authored a portion of Thomson Reuters’s Data Security and Privacy Law treatise for several years – particularly the chapter concerning Banking, Financial, and Insurance Industries.

Judge Best met his wife, Kate, in 2013 and they were married in 2014. They have four daughters.