Margherita Patti-Worthington
President Judge
Judge Margherita Patti-Worthington is the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 43rd Judicial District in Monroe County, Pennsylvania and is the Supervising Judge of the Monroe County Investigating Grand Jury. Judge Worthington presides over major criminal cases, administers the criminal docket and oversees all Court operations. Judge Patti-Worthington was elected in 1999 and retained in 2009. She is the first woman President Judge in the 43rd Judicial District, Monroe County.
Judge Patti-Worthington received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the University of Colorado and her Juris Doctor from the Villanova University School of Law. She was a partner in the firm of Muth, Zulick & Worthington and an assistant Monroe County public defender. Judge Patti-Worthington was appointed by the Honorable Ronald E. Vican to serve as the first Custody Conciliator and Dependency Master for the 43rd Judicial District. Judge Patti-Worthington is a past president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges and the current chair of the Past-Presidents Committee. She currently serves as the co-chair of the President Judges section of the conference. She is an adjunct professor at Penn State Dickinson Law School for the trial advocacy program and was appointed in 2007 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the Pennsylvania Interest on Lawyers Trust Account Board, having completed her 6 year term. Judge Patti-Worthington was appointed to the Deputy Sheriffs’ Education and Training Board by Governor Corbett and served from June 20, 2012 to September 4, 2014.
Judge Patti-Worthington recently served on the Strategic Planning Work Group for the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and is currently a member of the Commission’s subcommittee for Offender-related Guidelines Review. She is the Vice-Chair of the Supreme Court Criminal Rules Committee. In 2015, Judge Patti-Worthington was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as co-chair of the Language Access Advisory Group, tasked with creating and implementing a statewide plan to provide access to the State Courts to individuals with limited English proficiency and who are deaf or hard of hearing and currently chairs the MET (monitoring and evaluation team).
During her judicial tenure, Judge Patti-Worthington has instituted innovative programs in her Court such as the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program, the Truancy Elimination Program and the Court Technology Strategic Plan. In January of 2013 she launched a Court website to enable greater access of court information to the public and is advancing the use of technology in the Court’s operations by piloting statewide e-filing and docketing programs.
She is the recipient of the 2009 Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce Community Commitment Award and the 2015 Pennsylvania Bar Association President’s Award.
Her community activities have included participation on the local Boards of the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society. She is married and the mother of two children.
Judge Patti-Worthington received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the University of Colorado and her Juris Doctor from the Villanova University School of Law. She was a partner in the firm of Muth, Zulick & Worthington and an assistant Monroe County public defender. Judge Patti-Worthington was appointed by the Honorable Ronald E. Vican to serve as the first Custody Conciliator and Dependency Master for the 43rd Judicial District. Judge Patti-Worthington is a past president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges and the current chair of the Past-Presidents Committee. She currently serves as the co-chair of the President Judges section of the conference. She is an adjunct professor at Penn State Dickinson Law School for the trial advocacy program and was appointed in 2007 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the Pennsylvania Interest on Lawyers Trust Account Board, having completed her 6 year term. Judge Patti-Worthington was appointed to the Deputy Sheriffs’ Education and Training Board by Governor Corbett and served from June 20, 2012 to September 4, 2014.
Judge Patti-Worthington recently served on the Strategic Planning Work Group for the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and is currently a member of the Commission’s subcommittee for Offender-related Guidelines Review. She is the Vice-Chair of the Supreme Court Criminal Rules Committee. In 2015, Judge Patti-Worthington was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as co-chair of the Language Access Advisory Group, tasked with creating and implementing a statewide plan to provide access to the State Courts to individuals with limited English proficiency and who are deaf or hard of hearing and currently chairs the MET (monitoring and evaluation team).
During her judicial tenure, Judge Patti-Worthington has instituted innovative programs in her Court such as the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program, the Truancy Elimination Program and the Court Technology Strategic Plan. In January of 2013 she launched a Court website to enable greater access of court information to the public and is advancing the use of technology in the Court’s operations by piloting statewide e-filing and docketing programs.
She is the recipient of the 2009 Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce Community Commitment Award and the 2015 Pennsylvania Bar Association President’s Award.
Her community activities have included participation on the local Boards of the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society. She is married and the mother of two children.