County Court of Common Pleas: Gary Gilman And Lane Turturice

Gary Gilman and Lane Turturice are seeking election to a 10-year term as a Washington County Court of Common Pleas judge, as are Charles Kurowski and Phil Melograne. All have cross-filed and are seeking nomination from both Democrat and Republican parties.

Gary Gilman

• American University Law School
• Washington & Jefferson College
• Master and hearing officer at Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas—Family Division: Presided over complex divorce and support/litigation hearings, issuing detailed decisions regarding the value of marital estates, determining the division of marital estates, calculating litigants’ net disposable income and ruling upon counsel fee and expense requests
• Manager at Alpern Rosenthal, Pittsburgh—Valuation and litigation support service: Responsible for calculating, producing reports and testifying regarding net disposable income
• Associate at Wilder and Mahood, Pittsburgh: Responsible for representing litigants in the various Courts of Common Pleas in divorce, support, custody, dependency and protection from abuse litigation
• Self-employed attorney, Washington: Practice emphasized family law and represented people involved in divorce, support and custody litigation. Practice included municipal and bankruptcy work
• Solicitor of Canonsburg Borough Zoning Hearing Board
• Assistant Washington County Solicitor
• Guest Lecturer: Pennsylvania Bar Association, Washington County Bar Association, Allegheny County Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Institute
• Treasurer for Friends of Canonsburg Town Park
• Volunteer for Greater Canonsburg Food Bank
• Former board member of Community Action Southwest

What are your special qualifications that will make you a choice for this judgeship?

The special qualifications I have are my 11 years of experience of sitting in judgment as a master and hearing officer for the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, where I have been appointed to hear complex divorce, support and alimony cases. This experience sitting in judgment is more than the other candidates combined. There are no classes in law school teaching you how to be a judge or how to be a fair and critical listener. I have learned that a good judge manages a courtroom; he or she does not own the courtroom. And, a good judge understands how to balance competing interests. These qualifications earned me the 2008 Exemplary Service Award by the Allegheny County Bar Association, the highest honor for a family lawyer.

Why do you want to leave a practice of your own to become judge?

I do not have my own legal practice since my position as a master and hearing officer is full time. Therefore, I will not be leaving a private practice. But I am willing to give up a position that I love to continue my public service in Washington County, where I have lived formore than  31 years, to serve with honor and integrity as the late Mark Mascara did so well.

What is the best advice you ever received as an attorney, and how would it apply as judge?

The best advice I ever received was that 90 percent of success is based upon being organized. A judge carries a heavy caseload with tremendous responsibility. A judge must make thorough decisions in an expeditious manner. This requires good organizational skills, as well as a keen intellect and even temperament—all qualities that I possess.

• University of Pittsburgh School of Law
• Thomas Cooley Law School
• Washington and Jefferson College
• Founding partner, senior partner and shareholder at Berggren & Turturice LLC (2004-present): Representation of various clients in areas of municipal law, school law, real estate, family law, corporate law, estates and trusts, real estate, real estate taxes, criminal, juvenile and civil law litigation. Represented many clients on all levels of trial and appellate advocacy, including the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and Pennsylvania Supreme Court
• Washington County District Attorney’s office: Investigated and prosecuted thousands of criminal cases; Washington County Sex Crimes Unit, Child Advocate; Washington County juvenile prosecutor; managed and prosecuted all cases on the trial lists of Hon. John F. Bell and Katherine B. Emery; prepared and tried numerous jury and non-jury trials
• Bassi, McCune, and Vreeland, P.C.: Associate in business, real estate and municipal law department; represented various municipal and school bodies and municipal authorities; represented various small businesses
• Solicitor for Washington County Tax Claim Bureau
• Assistant solicitor for Washington County Department of Revenue
• Solicitor for Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Counseled clients in all areas of real estate law; represented clients in areas of child support and child custody
• Municipal Clients: City of Washington, Washington-East Washington Joint Authority, Bethlehem Center School District, Hanover Township, North Bethlehem Township, California Borough Recreation Authority, Vestaburg-New Hill Joint Authority, Midway Sewerage Authority, Smith Township Zoning Hearing Board, Claysville Borough, Peters Township School District and Greene County Housing Authority

What are your special qualifications that will make you a choice for this judgeship?

First and foremost, a judge can’t be political in any way. I think a candidate has to demonstrate that they have the character to put their political ideologies aside and make their rulings based strictly upon the law. Also, they have to have enormous personal and professional integrity. That’s where I see myself. Thirdly, the candidate has to have a broad base of experience in which to handle the various cases that come before them. In my case, I think I have the broadest base of experience of all the candidates. Even more than that, my experience has been obtained here in Washington County. This election cycle has been rather strange because we have basically two outsiders from Allegheny County running for Washington County Judge. I think the things I mentioned are the three biggest areas that I bring to the table.

Why do you want to leave a practice of your own to become judge?

That’s a good question, and no one has ever asked me that until a candidates' night just recently. I suppose the politically correct answer is to say they like public service, and certainly there’s an element to that in my own decision-making process because my family has always been involved in public service. There are certain attractive things about being a judge, but because of my practice as a solicitor for so many municipalities, I’m not home very much, and as the father of children ages 10, 8 and 2, it can wear on you quite a bit. If I’m elected I’ll still give the voters of Washington County a full day’s work and then some, but at least I’ll be able to tell my wife and family pretty much when I’ll be home with them, which I can’t do in my law practice right now.

What is the best advice you ever received as an attorney, and how would it apply as judge?

I can remember before I became an attorney, one of the older members of the Bar was discouraging me about going into law. But, Judge (Tom) Gladden disagreed with him, and looked me straight in the eye and told me not to be deterred because although there might be a lot of lawyers, there was always (room) for a good one. I’ve always remembered that advice in this campaign because of all the politicians who might try to deter me, there is always a place for a good judge.

For a complete list of all candidates running in the May primary, click . For Washington County absentee ballot information, click —the application deadline is today. Continue to check back for candidate interviews and election coverage.