News

DiPrimio Named top Philadelphia Court Administrator

July 17, 1996

PHILADELPHIA, July 17, 1996 – Attorney and veteran court administrator Joseph J. DiPrimio has been tapped for a key leadership post in the Philadelphia court system, Common Pleas Court President Judge Alex Bonavitacola announced today. DiPrimio will serve as Philadelphia's Court Administrator, with overall administrative supervision of the First Judicial District's Common Pleas, Municipal and Traffic Courts. Previously, DiPrimio had been Deputy Court Administrator of the FJD's Domestic Relations Branch in the Family Court Division. David C. Lawrence will continue in the position of Chief Deputy Court Administrator of the Trial Court Division and Director of Civil Operations with expanded duties and responsibilities. Applications received from the more than 60 candidates were reviewed by the FJD's Administrative Governing Board chaired by Bonavitacola. Other members of the Board are Municipal Court President Judge Alan Silberstein; Administrative Judges John Herron, Paul Panepinto, and Petrese Tucker of Common Pleas Court and Bernice DeAngelis of Traffic Court; as well as Court Administrator of Pennsylvania Nancy M. Sobolevitch. The Board made its selection by consensus. "Philadelphia is fortunate to have talented and knowledgeable executives within its own court system," said Bonavitacola. "We will be able to expand upon the reforms which were initiated by the state Supreme Court and its staff and carried forward by FJD judges, staff and members of the Philadelphia Bar. We believe that the strength of this appointment marks another page in what easily could be the First Judicial District's ongoing "bestseller," An Urban Court in Successful Transition. While serving as Deputy Court Administrator, DiPrimio developed and conducted complete reorganizational reviews and consolidation of the Domestic Relations operational units and procedures. The highly successful project, known as the Philadelphia Performance Enhancement Program, was the cornerstone for identifying areas in greatest need of improvement and developing a blueprint designed to implement the needed changes. DiPrimio also served as project director for Philadelphia's Automated Recovery Enforcement Network Tracking System (PARENTS), a comprehensive case tracking and processing system for the Family Court. This nationally recognized system is unique in that it fully integrates child support, child custody, divorce and domestic violence case types. DiPrimio began his career as a juvenile probation officer in the Philadelphia Family Court in 1972. After serving as a child support attorney, DiPrimio was named project director of the court's Child Support Program in 1980. After leaving the courts in 1986 to serve in the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and later with a private law firm, he was named Deputy Court Administrator of the Domestic Relations Branch of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 1992. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in pre-law studies from The Pennsylvania State University and graduated cum laude from Widener University School of Law, where he received a Juris Doctor degree. In his present position, Lawrence was an integral part of a team effort that initiated innovative programs that helped achieve a 53 percent reduction in the inventory of civil and criminal cases. Both the Expedited Drug Case Management Program and Civil Case Delay Reduction have received national recognition as a result of their successful implementation. Lawrence received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Temple University.