President Judge Emeritus (ret) Susan Peikes Gantman was born in Philadelphia on August 8, 1952. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she received both her Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degrees (1974). Judge Gantman graduated from the Villanova School of Law in 1977. Following graduation, Gantman served as law clerk to the Honorable Richard S. Lowe, of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. She has also served as Solicitor for the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth and the Montgomery County Housing and Community Development.
In 1981, Judge Gantman entered private practice. In 1991, Judge Gantman joined the law firm of Sherr, Joffe & Zuckerman, P.C. as Partner and Chair of the Domestic Relations Section. In 1998, she became a senior member and served as Co-chair of the Family Law Section of the law firm of Cozen O’Connor. Gantman frequently presented on issues of Appellate Practice and Procedure for the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Lawyers Club of Philadelphia, and at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Montgomery County Bar Association, and the Department of Public Welfare. She has also served on the Board of Directors for Women’s Philanthropy, the Federation of Allied Jewish Appeal, and Women of Vision.
Judge Gantman’s election to a ten-year term on the Superior Court was confirmed in January 2004, and she won retention in 2013. She served as President Judge of the Superior Court for the five-year term from 2014 to 2019. While on this Court she was the chair of the Records Management Committee and shepherded the Children’s Fast Track initiative. In 2020, President Judge Emeritus Gantman took senior status until she retired from the bench in December 2021.
On August 16, 2022, President Judge Emeritus Gantman was named as a lawyer-member, by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to the Judicial Conduct Board. Judge Gantman has been honored by many organizations: Anne X. Alpern Award, Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession; Brandeis Law Society Law Day; honoree, Montgomery Bar Association Annual Dinner; she was awarded Women of the Year 2014, The Legal Intelligencer. Judge Gantman has been recognized by the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth for her achievements and outstanding service. She was presented with the Margaret Richardson Award given by the Montgomery County Bar to a person who has advanced the role of women in the legal field and furthered women’s legal rights. Other honors include the Bond of Faith and the Juvenile Advisory Association Award.