For our readers with litigation in Pennsylvania:

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett announced last week that he will nominate state Superior Court (appeals) Judge Correale F. Stevens to fill the vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court created by the resignation of former Justice Orie Melvin.

Judge Stevens is a graduate of Dickinson Law School and has been President Judge of the Superior Court since 2011. If confirmed by the state Senate, he would serve on the Supreme Court until January 2016, with an election to fill the vacancy taking place in November 2015.

Currently, the Supreme Court is split 3-3 between Republican and Democratic justices.  There are a number of important issues before the Court, including the possible adoption of the Third Restatement of Torts in the Tincher case.