Gail A. Weilheimer was a judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas for 10 years. Now, she is a federal district judge and is one of just 677 people nationwide to hold such a title. Weilheimer has a special connection to Hofstra University. She attended Hofstra where she received both her bachelor’s degree and law degree. Weilheimer’s story is a testament to the achievement and ingenuity that Hofstra’s students are capable of.
Weilheimer was born in Syracuse, New York, but moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, when she was young. At an early age, Weilheimer had her sights set on becoming a lawyer.
“I read a book when I was 10 [years old] called ‘Lawyers for the People,’ and it made me always want to practice law,” Weilheimer said.
Weilheimer received her bachelor’s degree in international studies in 1992. While at Hofstra, she served as Comptroller of the Student Government Association and was then elected Student Body President.
After her undergraduate studies, Weilheimer attended the Maurice A. Deane School of Law as a Truman scholar, graduating in 1995 with hopes of becoming a prosecutor.
“When I was in law school, my most significant experience was being a member of the trial team. It would be my trial team coaches that were the most significant to me, and that would have been Lawrence Kessler and Stefan Krieger,” Weilheimer said.
After law school, Weilheimer served as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. She left the district attorney’s office in 2002, working in a private practice as a trial lawyer for the next 10 years before being elected to the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in 2013.
“I continued being a trial lawyer [after being a district attorney]. I had good experiences, but it was my hope to run for judge one day, an elected position here in Pennsylvania,” Weilheimer said. “I had the opportunity to do that in 2013 and got elected.”
In the election for judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, Weilheimer garnered the most votes, winning one of two open positions with over 63,000 votes. She assumed office in 2014 and was re-elected by a wide margin in 2023.
On July 3, 2024, former President Joe Biden nominated Weilheimer to be a judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, an area covering southeastern Pennsylvania. On Dec. 3, 2024, the United States Senate confirmed Weilheimer to be a federal judge, and she has been serving in that capacity since Jan. 2, 2025.
Weilheimer’s advice for aspiring lawyers who wish to one day serve as a judge are, “Learn the law and be a good trial lawyer. You have to understand and appreciate the courtroom before you can be in charge of it.”