Westmoreland County Judge Marsili leaves a long career in law, sort of

Judge Anthony Marsili’s career may have started out with him selling ties and shirts at a now-defunct Greensburg department store. But decades later, it’s a black robe that has defined his life’s work.

Marsili, 67, of New Kensington, officially retired Sunday after serving 19 years as a common pleas judge in Westmoreland County. His years as a judge followed a long career as a lawyer that started in the 1980s.

“I’ve always perceived the law as ‘here’s a problem, now how do we solve the problem.’ If we can’t, roll the dice and go to court and see what happens,” Marsili said.

Marsili’s legal career saw him serve two stints as a prosecutor with the county district attorney’s office and as a partner in a Greensburg-based law firm that specialized in civil and business litigation. He was elected judge in 2000.

He spent his first decade on the bench hearing family court cases, deciding child custody issues and other matters that involved family relationships.

“For some bizarre reason, I enjoyed family court,” Marsili said. “ I viewed it as there are these families dealing with all the pressure and conflict, and how can I help them get their lives back together. I thought I was helping.”

But after 10 years listening to arguing couples and child custody issues, the judge was ready for a new challenge. He transferred to the civil court division.

Over the last decade, Marsili presided over product liability cases, personal injury claims and medical malpractice cases, including more than 150 lawsuits filed by Excela Health patients who claimed they were subjected unneeded cardiac procedures to install stent devices.

The high-profile litigation, which Marsili described as among the most difficult he handled as a judge, started after the hospital sent notice to as many as 190 patients that they may have received unneeded stents. Marsili presided over numerous hearings that included dozens of lawyers and litigants and which finally resulted the first case going to trial.

The three-week trial ended with a verdict in favor of the hospital and doctors named in the lawsuit.

Marsili said that now only about 35 or 40 cases remain, with most having been settled. Those cases will eventually be reassigned to another judge.

His patient courtroom demeanor and attention to detail earned Marsili a reputation as a thoughtful and respected judge during his nearly two decades on the bench, according to attorney John Ranker, president of the Westmoreland County Bar Association.

“Judge Marsili has been one of the finest judges that I have practiced before. He was always fair and considerate to attorneys and litigants,” Ranker said. “He really is a prince of a guy, and I guarantee you he will be very sorely missed as a judge.”

Marsili graduated from Jeannette High School and received a political science degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. With no government job in the offing, he went to work in the men’s department at Troutman’s in Greensburg when he decided to attend Duquesne University School of Law at night.

After a two-year stint as a title searcher for a local lawyer, Marsili went to work as a legislative staff in Washington, D.C., for Don Bailey after he was elected to Congress.

Marsili returned home after a year and joined a Greensburg law firm where he worked with future judges Joe Hudock and John Driscoll. When Driscoll was elected as the county’s district attorney in the early 1980s, Marsili joined his staff as a part-time prosecutor.

After a brief move back into private practice, he returned to the district attorney’s office in the late 1980s and helped establish a special unit that prosecuted child sexual abuses cases. He then resumed a private law practice where he worked until he was seated as a judge.

Nearly two decades later, he decided it was time to retire.

“I didn’t dread coming in to work, but I didn’t have the same enthusiasm and energy to have the same day-to-day grind and try to resolve cases and help people,” Marsili said. “I never got used to making some people, some lawyers, everyone on both sides unhappy and making them think the justice system failed them.”

Even after retirement, Marsili will still work about two days a month as a senior judge, hearing protection from abuses and tax appeal cases in Westmoreland County and doing so with the same dedication that has marked his judicial career.

“I wanted everyone who came in to court to have their day in court and show their point of view,” Marsili said. “I’ve really liked being involved in the legal system.”

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.