HARRISBURG, Pa. (April 10, 2023) — The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Administrative Law Section will present its James S. Bowman Award to Prothonotary Michael F. Krimmel, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, at an awards ceremony during its Committee/Section Day on April 13 in Camp Hill.
The James S. Bowman Award honors a lawyer who is making a significant impact on the practice of administrative law and who is demonstrating leadership in mentoring administrative law practitioners.
Working for the Commonwealth Court since 2006, Krimmel served as chief clerk before assuming his current title of prothonotary in 2019. In this role, he is responsible for the court’s administration and operations. This includes overseeing the receipt, docketing and maintenance of all documents filed with the court; scheduling argument sessions; and managing caseload inventory and statistics.
One of Krimmel’s nominators said: “Mike is deserving of this award because of his management of the unprecedented challenges that have faced the court since 2020, including myriad public health disputes and election lawsuits. Many of these cases have consumed an outsize share of the court’s time and attention as original jurisdiction matters or have proceeded on an expedited basis. These factors have required significant investment of Mike’s time and effort.”
Prior to his current position, Krimmel served as staff counsel to the Minor Court Rules Committee of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. In 2001, he served on the Supreme Court’s Intergovernmental Task Force to Study the District Justice System. Before joining the appellate court staff, Krimmel served the Pennsylvania county courts for 14 years as special courts administrator for the 23rd Judicial District in Berks County, and bail and pretrial services administrator for the Second Judicial District in Lancaster County.
Professionally, Krimmel is an ex officio member of the Appellate Court Procedural Rules Committee and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Historical Society Board of Directors. He is also a member of the National Association of Appellate Court Clerks. During his tenure as county court administrator, Krimmel was chair of the Pennsylvania Association of Court Management’s Special Courts Management Committee. He was also an ex officio member of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center’s Minor Court Rules Committee. In his community, he previously served as president of the St. Thomas More Society of Central Pennsylvania.
Within the PBA, Krimmel is a member of the Administrative Law Section, Appellate Advocacy Committee and Judicial Administration Committee. He is also an active member of the Dauphin County Bar Association.
In addition to teaching legal studies courses at local colleges for more than 17 years, Krimmel lectures at numerous Pennsylvania Bar Institute programs, including the Commonwealth Court Practicum.
Krimmel received his J.D. from Widener University Commonwealth Law School and his B.A. from American University.