HISTORICAL SKETCHES

of the Bench and Bar of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

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Judges of the United States District Court For the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Judge Malcolm Stabler Muir

Malcolm Stabler Muir was born October 20, 1914, in Englewood, New Jersey. His father, John M. Muir, was a dentist who later practiced in Williamsport. Doctor Muir’s ancestors emigrated from Scotland and farmed in the Catskills region of New York in the town of Andes. Judge Muir’s mother was born Sarah Elizabeth Stabler and was reared on a farm near Salladasburg, Anthony Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Judge Muir graduated from the Williamsport High School in 1931, from Lehigh University in 1935, and from the Harvard Law School in 1938. He was admitted to the Lycoming County Bar in 1938. In his early years of practice, he shared offices with John C. Youngman, Sr., a member of this Bar.

In 1942, Judge Muir enlisted in the United States Navy and achieved the rank of Lieutenant. He served as an officer in charge of gun crews aboard merchant troop carriers and tankers in the North Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Persian Gulf. He volunteered and served aboard the Booker T. Washington, a troopship which was one of the few racially integrated vessels. While serving aboard that ship, Judge Muir taught himself celestial navigation and thereafter always plotted his ship’s position several times each day. In one large convoy which was enshrouded by fog for days, he had the latest position of any navigator, a running fix based on momentary sightings by sextant of the sun and Jupiter.

Upon Judge Muir’s separation from the service at the end of World War II, he returned to Williamsport and resumed the practice of law as a sole practitioner until 1949, when he became a partner in the newly formed firm of Furst, McCormick, Muir & Lynn. He remained with that firm and its successors until 1968, when he left and became associated with Joseph L. Rider. Judge Muir maintained his association with Joseph L. Rider until Muir was invested as a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on November 6, 1970. Before that date he was a member of the governing boards of numerous local institutions including Christ Church, the Muncy School Board, the Park Home, the Salvation Army, and the Red Cross. While in practice he specialized in estate taxation and decedent’s estates and was widely known for his expertise in those fields.

In 1946, he started the Lycoming Reporter, which was published for some time by him without advertisements and in mimeographed form. After the Court recognized it as the official legal periodical for Lycoming County, he served as the first editor for nearly 20 years during which time he analyzed all of the local court opinions and wrote all of the syllabi. Judge Muir served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Lycoming Law Association for many years and as its President in 1954. He was one of a small group who founded the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and became the first treasurer of that organization.

Judge Muir became a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in his first year of practice and was a member of the Board of Governors of that Association for five years. He was elected that organization’s first individual treasurer, the organization having previously been served by a Philadelphia bank as treasurer. He was elected Vice President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and at the time of his appointment to the bench was the President-Elect. He renounced the presidency because of his perceived need to devote full time to the judgeship. He was the first member from the Middle District of Pennsylvania on the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit, and has been, up to the present time, the only district judge on that Council who was not the chief judge of a district at the time of his service. For years he served on a Subcommittee of the Judicial Conference of the United States among whose functions was the automation of the federal courts.

Judge Muir has presided over some major civil and criminal cases. Probably the most significant civil case was that of United States vs. Gleneagles. The bench trial took 120 trial days and was the subject of three opinions by Judge Muir, 565 F. Supp. 556, 571 F. Supp. 935, and 584 F. Supp. 671, and an opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit which was published as United States vs. Tabor Court Realty Corp., 803 F.2d 1288 (3d Cir. 1986). The case resulted in the invalidation of a $17,000,000 mortgage. Many consider Gleneagles to be a landmark case on the subject of leveraged buy-outs. The major criminal cases over which Judge Muir has presided involved corruption among high officials in Pennsylvania, including the Republican Chairman of Dauphin County, the Republican State Chairman, and the Treasurer of Pennsylvania.

Judge Muir is probably best known among practitioners in the federal courts in Pennsylvania for his order which governs the practice in his Court. Although initially the subject of great opposition from the Bar, this practice order was later recommended by a committee of lawyers almost verbatim as the basis for the Local Rules of the District and was so used. Judge Muir assumed senior status in 1984.

In 1940 Judge Muir married the former Alma Brohard of Grafton, West Virginia. They had five children, Malcolm, Jr., Thomas, Ann, Barbara, and Clay. Barbara died in 1982. Mrs. Muir died in 1985.

Judge Muir studied piano under the late Harold Pries, from whom Judge Muir says he learned not only the piano, but also a way of life, and he considers Mr. Fries to have had the greatest influence on him of any of his teachers and associates. The Judge reads enthusiastically and enjoys a poker game for small stakes which has been on-going weekly for more than 60 years at the Ross Club. He takes wry amusement in remarking that his judicial commission was signed by President Richard M. Nixon and countersigned by Attorney General John N. Mitchell, and, observing that, despite their faults and the criminal conviction of the Attorney General, they were exceptional judges of character.

James Focht McClure, Jr.

James F. McClure was serving in his first term as President Judge, Court of Common Pleas for the 17th Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Snyder and Union Counties, when he was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on January 24, 1990, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania vacated when  Judge William J. Nealon assumed Senior status.  He was confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 1990, and received his commission on April 30, 1990.

Judge McClure was born in 1931 in Danville, PA.  He graduated from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952.  Between 1952 and 1954, he served in the U.S. Army.  He later attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1957.

After graduation he served as an attorney in the U.S. Department of State Legal Advisor's Office from 1957 and 1958, and then entered private practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1958 to 1961.  In 1961 he became employed by Merck & Co., Inc. where he served in the office of its counsel until 1965.

In 1965, Judge McClure commenced his private practice in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.  Between 1974 and 1975 he served as district attorney for Union County, Pennsylvania.

Judge McClure was elected President Judge of Court of Common Pleas for the 17th Judicial District of Pennsylvania, serving from 1984 to 1990, when he joined the federal court.

Judge McClure maintains chambers in Williamsport, joining Judge Muir, who is also located in the Williamsport federal court house building.  He assumed senior status on April 7, 2001.

John E. Jones III

Judge John E. Jones III commenced his service as a United States District Judge on August 2, 2002. He is the 21st judge to sit in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.  Judge Jones was appointed to his current position by President George W. Bush on February 28, 2002, to a seat vacated when Judge McClure assumed Senior status. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on July 30, 2002, and received his commission on July 31, 2002.

John E. Jones was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1955. He attended Dickinson College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977. Continuing his education in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Dickinson School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1980.

In 1980 Judge Jones began his legal career as a law clerk to the President Judge of Schuylkill County, the Honorable Guy A. Bowe from 1980 to 1984. Subsequently, Judge Jones joined the firm of Dolbin & Cori, and upon his achieving the status of partner, the name of the firm was changed to Dolbin, Cori & Jones. In 1986, Judge Jones formed his own law firm, John Jones & Associates, where he continued to practice until the time of his elevation to the federal bench. During a career as a trial lawyer which spanned nearly twenty-two years, Judge Jones represented thousands of clients from all walks of life. He was an experienced litigator, practicing in state and federal tribunals across Pennsylvania. He served as solicitor for several municipalities, including the city of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Judge Jones also served as a part-time assistant public defender for Schuylkill County, from 1984 to 1995. For the last ten years of his practice, Judge Jones served as counsel to the Reading, Pennsylvania based law firm of Roland & Schlegel.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Jones had numerous public and private affiliations. These included service as a member of the Board of Directors of the Union Bank and Trust Company of Pottsville, state attorney for the D.A.R.E. program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), and chairman of a local foundation which awarded scholarships to high school students based upon vocal music ability. He has served as an Assistant Scoutmaster, and has been extensively involved with both the local and national Boy Scouts of America.

In 1992 John Jones was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, losing a close election to Congressman Tim Holden. It is a testimonial to the respect that Judge Jones maintains in the community, that his former political opponent Congressman Holden introduced him as a friend, to the Senate committee considering his confirmation to the federal bench, and reported the bipartisan support of Judges and the District Attorney in his home County of Schuylkill.

In November, 1994, Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Ridge named Judge Jones as a co-chair of his transition team. Subsequently, in May 1995, Governor Ridge nominated Judge Jones to fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which is the largest state liquor monopoly in the United States. After his unanimous confirmation by the Pennsylvania State Senate, Governor Ridge appointed Judge Jones Chairman of the Board. Judge Jones served as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for a total of seven years and two months, until he assumed his current duties. During his tenure on the Liquor Control Board, Judge Jones implemented substantial changes in liquor licensing procedures which were designed to both streamline and shorten the process. These included use of the internet to apply for and renew liquor licenses. He managed a workforce of over four thousand people, and administered a budget in excess of one billion dollars. Judge Jones also gained national attention in the area of alcohol education, with particular emphasis on underage drinking at college campuses, as well as drunk driving. In November 2000, Judge Jones’ contributions were recognized when he received the Government Leadership Award from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving in Washington, D.C. At the time of his appointment to the bench, Judge Jones was a board member, and president-elect, of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA).

Among other honors received by Judge Jones have been the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Dickinson School of Law, and the Welsh Citizen of the Year Award from the St. David’s Society of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties.

Judge Jones resides in his native Pottsville, and has been married to his wife Beth Ann since 1982. They are the parents of daughter Meghan, and son John.

Judge Jones maintains chambers in Williamsport. With his selection, the contingent of Federal District Court Judges with chambers in Williamsport totaled three, in that Senior Judges McClure and Muir continued to maintain a full court schedule.
 

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