The Hon. David N. Wecht is an associate justice for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He was elected to the bench on November 3, 2015.
Over the course of his judicial career, Wecht has presided as a judge for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (2012 to 2016) as well as the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (2003 to 2012). As a judge for the Court of Common Pleas, Wecht held assignments in the Civil Division and the Family Division.
Wecht earned a B.A. in history and political science from Yale University in 1984. He then completed a J.D. at Yale Law School in 1987. As a law student, Wecht was the Notes Editor for the Yale Law Journal.
After graduating from law school, Wecht began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. George E. MacKinnon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The following year, after the conclusion of her clerkship, he entered into private practice.
Wecht worked as an associate at Williams & Connolly (1989 to 1993) as well as Katarincic & Salmon (1993 to 1996). Then, in 1996, he established the Wecht Law Firm, where he practiced until joining the bench. During his tenure in private practice, Wecht also served as Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court in Allegheny County (1998 to 2003).
His memberships have included the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Allegheny County Bar Association, and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation. He has sat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee, the Law Enforcement Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania Commision on Crime and Delinquency, the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee of the Community College of Allegheny County, and the Juvenile Court Judges Commission.
He is a recipient of the Jewish Law Day Award from the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society (2016), the Humanitarian Award from the J.N.L. Club (2003), the Certificate of Recognition from the Regional Development Funding Corporation (2001), and the Certificate of Recognition from the Variety Club of the Children’s Charity (2000).
Wecht was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Cyril Wecht, is a nationally-recognized pathologist and former Allegheny County medical examiner. He is known for disagreeing with the single-bullet theory in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
He is registered as a Democrat.