Hon. John C. Uhler (Ret.) was a judge for the York County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. He was elected to the bench in 1989. Uhler retired in December 2009.
During his judicial tenure, he presided in the Juvenile Court and Orphans’ Court and was named president judge in York County in 1995 (1996 to 2001). In addition, Uhler was credited with initiating Pennsylvania’s first Juvenile Mental Health Court and led York County’s Truancy Task Force.
He was chairman of the President Judges for the State Trail Conference, president of the Juvenile Court Section, a member of the Judicial Ethics Committee for the State Conference of Trial Judges, and a consultant for the Juvenile Bench Book. In 2009, he was appointed by former Governor Ed Rendell to the State Council for Interstate Juvenile Supervision.
He received a B.S. from Bucknell University in 1966. Uhler went to complete a J.D. at Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law in 1969.
Prior to joining the bench, Uhler worked as a private practice attorney, litigating civil matters including trademark, antitrust, security fraud, tax litigation, and white-collar crimes as well as Orphans’ Court matters. Before his time in private practice, he was elected District Attorney in York County (1978 to 1982), was an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office in Harrisburg, and worked as a senior law clerk in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
After retiring from the bench, Uhler joined CGA Law Firm as of counsel in the firm’s Litigation Group. His areas of practice focused on complex commercial litigation, estate litigation, Orphans’ Court matters, and alternative dispute resolution.
Uhler was a founder and chairman of the York County Truancy Prevention Initiative, a multi-department program created to address truancy and its impact on delinquency and high school dropouts. He was also president of the York County Bar Foundation.
Uhler received the PLAN Excellence Award from the Pennsylvania Legal Services Network (2014), the Child Advocate of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association Children’s Rights Committee (2011), the Outstanding Service to the Community Award from the Salvation Army (2011), the Community Builder Award from United Way (2011), the Elected Official of the Year Award from the York County Chamber of Commerce (2009), and the Aunt Lovie Jamison Award from the Crispus Attucks Association (2004).