HARRISBURG, Pa. (April 27, 2023) – The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Plain English Committee will present its 2023 Clarity Award to Judge Mary Jane Bowes, Superior Court of Pennsylvania, at an awards luncheon during the PBA Annual Meeting May 3-5 in Philadelphia.
The award was created by the committee to recognize “those who have done the most to foster plain English in the legal field.” The committee’s mission is to reward and encourage efforts to improve access to the law by demystifying legal language and to enable lawyers to better counsel clients and increase respect for the legal profession by removing the barriers of legalese.
Elected in 2001, Judge Bowes has been serving on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania for 22 years. She was retained for two additional 10-year terms in 2011 and 2021. Prior to serving on the bench, Judge Bowes served as corporate counsel for IT Corporation, Monroeville, and was in private practice for several years.
During her tenure on the bench, Judge Bowes has disposed thousands of cases and advocated to increase the court’s transparency by posting decisions online, arguing for persuasive citation, seeking increased publication of internal operating procedures, sitting in special sessions in outlying counties and having one of the highest publication rates of opinions on the court.
Judge Bowes’ efforts to decrease waste and lower costs within the court system resulted in a seven to four reduction in the number of reproduced records to be filed with the Superior Court. She also served as the statewide administrative wiretap judge and engaged in the wholesale revisions of the internal operating procedures governing wiretaps for the first time in 20 years.
In 2016, Judge Bowes was appointed to the Supreme Court Appellate Procedural Rules Committee and chaired numerous subcommittees during her six years in that role. She also served as a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Criminal Justice Advisory Committee; co-president of the Women’s Bar Association; and chair of the Bloomsburg University Council of Trustees, holding that position from 2018-2022.
One of Bowes’ nominator’s said she has a “reputation for clear, concise and accurate writing— which has been one of her trademarks—besides her great analyses! She is a star!”
A frequent presenter, Judge Bowes lectures on appellate practice topics for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, law schools, local bar associations and various organizations. She has also authored numerous articles in law publications, including On Review, The Lawyers Journal and The Pennsylvania Lawyer.
Active in the PBA, Judge Bowes is a member and past co-chair of the Appellate Advocacy Committee, for which she received a PBA Special Achievement Award in 2008 for her time and resources to improve the association and the legal profession. She is also a member of the Commission on Women in the Profession.
Bowes holds a B.A. in government/public administration from Georgetown University, and a J.D. from University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she currently serves as president of its Alumni Association.
For more information on the PBA Annual Meeting, visit https://www.pabar.org/pdf/2023/AnnualMeeting2023.pdf.