Gov. Jack Markell is tapping Karen Valihura for a spot on the Delaware Supreme Court.
Markell announced his choice of the corporate lawyer Friday afternoon.
If confirmed by the state Senate, the 51-year old Valihura will become only the second woman to serve on Delaware’s highest court and will replace retiring Justice Jack Jacobs, who is set to step down June 24th.
Valihura is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, LLP, a private Wilmington law firm, where she’s practiced since 1989, dealing with corporate mergers, acquisitions and fraud claims.
In a statement, Markell touted Valihura’s record of community service and called her an attorney of “uncommon skill, intelligence and integrity.”
Valihura was one of four nominees sent to Markell for consideration by the Judicial Nominating Commission, and the only Republican on that short list. The only other woman on the list was Superior Court Judge Jan R. Jurden, who has been embroiled in controversy over a probation sentence she handed down to a DuPont heir who admitted to molesting his daughter.
Markell sidestepped questions about why he shied away from Jurden, who had also been a contender for the Chief Justice job eventually filled by Leo Strine in February.
“I had a number of really good candidates and as often is the case, it’s a very difficult decision, but Karen I feel would just be terrific,” said Markell in an interview with Delaware Public Media.
The other candidates on the nomination list were Superior Court President Judge James T. Vaughn Jr. and Widener University School of Law professor Lawrence Hamermesh.
Valihura earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Wilmington.
