Chester County Judge Katherine Platt to Receive Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Award

HARRISBURG (Nov. 30, 2021) — Katherine B.L. Platt, a judge at Chester County Court of Common Pleas, will be presented with the 2022 Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Family Law Section Eric Turner Memorial Award during the section’s Winter Meeting, Jan. 14-16, 2022, in Philadelphia.

The Eric Turner Memorial Award honors a jurist who is dedicated to the practice of family law and who serves as a mentor and teacher to fellow jurists.

As part of the award, a $1,000 donation will be made to a charity of the honoree’s choosing. Judge Platt has selected Legal Aid of Southern Pennsylvania, an organization that provides free civil legal aid for low-income, vulnerable people in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

Prior to taking the bench in 1998, Judge Platt was in private practice for 22 years focusing on family law, real estate and commercial lending. Her judicial assignments have included rotations in civil trials, criminal trials and Family and Orphans’ Court, the latter on which she has served as Chester County’s administrative judge since 2011.

Active in her local community, Judge Platt founded the West Chester Child Access Center, a no-cost supervised custody visitation center. She is also a founding member and past chair the Doris Jonas Freed American Inn of Court, which comprises a group of judges and attorneys from Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties who focus on family law education. In addition, she is a past chair of the Chester County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee that monitors the administration of the Access to Justice program that works to assure the delivery of legal services to those who qualify for legal aid. She is a frequent lecturer and trainer for volunteer attorneys and mentors.

She is an active member of the PBA Family Law Section and the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission Advisory Committee on Domestic Relations Law.

In 2018, Judge Platt was recognized as a permanency advocate by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network. Her other accolades include receiving the 2015 Chester County Bar Association’s President’s Award, the 2008 Pennsylvania Psychological Association’s Public Service Award, and the 2008 PBA Legal Services to the Public Judges Award, which she received for tutoring non-family law attorneys on how to conduct pro bono representation of family law cases.

Judge Platt received a B.A. from the Sarah Lawrence College and a J.D. from Villanova Law School.

For more information about the PBA Family Law Section Winter Meeting, Jan. 14-16, 2022, visit https://www.pabar.org/site/Events-and-Education/Event-Info/sessionaltcd/FAM122.

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access of legal services; and serve the lawyer members of the state's largest organized bar association.