Superior Court of Delaware Official Web Site

SUPERIOR COURT
Complex Commercial Litigation Division

Special Judge's Panel

Cases identified as qualifying to be a Complex Commercial Litigation Division (CCLD) case are assigned, on a rotating basis, to a judge on the Special CCLD Judge's Panel, unless specially assigned to the case by the President Judge.

View Administrative Directive 2010-4 for CCLD Judge Panel Assignments >>

The Panel is be appointed by the President Judge from among the Superior Court judges. Each judge on the Panel will serve a 3-year term unless replaced by the President Judge. Judges assigned to the Panel collaborate to promote uniformity in case management. Judges assigned to the Panel may establish standing orders and protocols. (CCLD Standing Orders are default standards. Orders are flexible and adjustments may be made as agreed upon by the parties.)

If a case is assigned initially to a judge of the Court under another case category and it is subsequently identified as a qualifying case by a CIS filed by a responding party, it will be reassigned to a Special CCLD Panel Judge.

The initial Complex Commercial Litigation Division Panel Judges are Judge Fred S. Silverman, Judge Joseph R. Slights III Judge Jan R. Jurden, and Judge Mary M. Johnston.

COMPLEX COMMERCIAL DIVISION PANEL JUDGES

President Judge James T. Vaughn Jr.

The Honorable James T. Vaughn Jr. was appointed Resident Judge in Kent County of the Superior Court of Delaware on October 28, 1998; elevated to President Judge of the Superior Court on October 12, 2004.

President Judge Vaughn received his B.A. from Duke University in 1971 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976. Following admission to the Delaware Bar in 1976, he returned to Dover to practice general civil and criminal law in the firm of Vaughn and Vaughn. In 1988 he became a member of the firm of Schmittinger and Rodriguez in Dover.

While in private law practice, he served as an associate member of the Board on Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Delaware, president of the Kent County Bar Association, and vice-president of the Delaware State Bar Association.

President Judge Vaughn is a member of the Kent County Bar Association, Terry-Carey American Inn of Court and National Conference of State Trial Judges. He served as a judicial member of the Joint Bar/Bench Committee on Civility and as a member of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.

Judge Fred S. Silverman

The Honorable Fred S. Silverman became a Judge of the Superior Court of Delaware in October 1993.

Judge Silverman received his B.A. from New College, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1975.

From 1987 to 1993, Judge Silverman was Delaware's Chief Deputy Attorney General. From 1983 to 1987 Judge Silverman was Delaware's State Solicitor. From 1978 until 1983 Judge Silverman served as a prosecutor. Before entering state service, Judge Silverman was an Associate at Biggs & Battaglia.

Judge Jan R. Jurden

The Honorable Jan R. Jurden, a Delaware native, was appointed to the Superior Court of Delaware in May 2001.

After serving three years in the United States Army overseas, Judge Jurden received her B.A. summa cum laude from Muhlenberg College in 1985 and her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law (now the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University) in 1988 where she was an Articles Editor of the Law Review and a member of the Woolsack Honor Society.

She practiced law as an Associate with the law firm of Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor from 1988 to 1995 concentrating on corporate, commercial and personal injury litigation, and became a Partner in 1996. She continued her law practice at Young, Conaway until May 2001. During her 13 years at Young, Conaway, Judge Jurden litigated cases in the U.S. District Court, Delaware Supreme Court, Superior Court, Court of Chancery, Family Court and Court of Common Pleas.

Since its inception in 2008, Judge Jurden has overseen Superior Court’s Mental Health Court. She oversaw the Conflict Attorney Program, providing representation for indigent defendants from 2006 to 2008. She previously served as Civil Administrative Judge and is currently Criminal Administrative Judge. She is also a member of the Court's Complex Commercial Litigation Division.

Judge Jurden is a member of the American Bar and the Delaware State Bar Associations and the National Association of Women Judges. She is a member of the Advisory Committee on the Delaware Rules of Evidence and the Advisory Committee on Professionalism. She is also a member of the Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court.

Judge Jurden was the 2011 recipient of the Outstanding Service to the Courts and Bar Award, presented by the Delaware State Bar Association to a judge or lawyer who “by exemplary service to the Delaware Courts and the Delaware Bar has substantially assisted the Courts and the Bar and strengthened the public trust and confidence in the State’s court system and the administration of justice.”

She was the 2009 recipient of Sylvia H. Rambo Award presented by the Women’s Law Caucus of the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law “honoring a woman in the legal profession who has had a distinguished career and who, by example, has made the professional success of other women more likely.”

She was the 1997 recipient of the Caleb R. Layton III Service Award awarded to one who "personifies the qualities of a federal practitioner, legal acumen, professional decorum and public service."

She was also the 1996 recipient of the New Lawyers Distinguished Service Award, awarded to one who, "by exemplary leadership and service dedicated to the cause of good citizenship in civic and humanitarian service over a period of less than ten years has maintained the integrity and honored recognition of the legal profession in community affairs and who, as an outstanding Delawarean, has unceasingly advanced the ideals of citizen participation and community accomplishment, thus reflecting high honor on both country and profession.""

Judge Mary Miller Johnston

The Honorable Mary Miller Johnston was appointed to the Superior Court of Delaware on September 25, 2003.

Judge Johnston received her J.D. cum laude from Washington & Lee University School of Law where she served as Lead Article's Editor of the Law Review. She also has a B.A. magna cum laude in music from Wittenberg University, and an M.A. in music from Northwestern University.

Before coming to the bench, Judge Johnston served as Chief Counsel of the Delaware Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel, prosecuting attorney discipline cases and unauthorized practice of law matters. She formerly was a partner with Morris James, LLP practicing primarily in the areas of corporate and commercial litigation. She currently is assigned as a member of the Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division.

Judge Johnston is past chair of the Delaware State Bar Association's Women and the Law Section; a recipient of the Bar Association's Women’s Leadership Award; and was a member of the Pro Se Litigation Assistance Committee. She is a member of the Delaware Supreme Court's Permanent Advisory Committee on the Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct, the Professionalism Committee, the Court's Commission on Continuing Legal Education, and the Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court. Her past service includes the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee and Judicial Liaison to the Executive Committee of the Delaware State Bar Association. Judge Johnston serves as a member of the Washington & Lee School of Law Council and member of the Board of Governors of Wesley Theological Seminary. She is past president of the Board of Children & Families First..