Biography
The Honorable Mary Jane Bowes serves as a judge of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the Superior Court in November 2001, and retained in 2011 and 2021. During her tenure on the Court, Judge Bowes has fought to increase the Superior Court’s transparency by advocating for online posting and increased publication of its decisions. A member of the American Law Institute, she was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Appellate Courts Procedural Rules Committee, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Judicial Independence, which she chairs. Judge Bowes lectures widely throughout the Commonwealth on appellate practice issues for state and local bar associations. She has served on the boards of numerous charitable, civic, and educational organizations, including the Bloomsburg University Council of Trustees, where she is a former trustee and past chair. Judge Bowes was elected as an Honorary Alumna and received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from that institution for her work on the Council of Trustees. She is past chair of the PBA Appellate Advocacy Committee and past chair of the University of Pittsburgh Law Alumni Association. Judge Bowes earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she was named a Distinguished Alumna. Upon graduation, she worked as a judicial law clerk for Chief Justice Henry X. O’Brien of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and two Superior Court judges. Judge Bowes thereafter engaged in the general practice of law before joining the legal department of a publicly traded environmental remediation firm. A member of the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations, she was named one of Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business by Governor Tom Ridge. Judge Bowes is the recipient of the PBA’s Clarity Award and a Special Achievement Award, and recently was honored by the Judge Robert E. Dauer Award for Judicial Excellence and Leadership by the Amen Corner in Pittsburgh.