Gene E.K. Pratter, U.S. District Court judge, longtime lawyer, and adjunct professor at Penn, has died at 75

Gene E.K. Pratter, 75, of Bryn Mawr, U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, longtime lawyer in the Philadelphia office of Duane Morris, adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School, mentor, and volunteer, died Friday, May 17, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Judge Pratter became a federal-district court judge in Philadelphia in 2004 and was cited for her “distinguished legal career” and “diverse experiences and knowledge” by senators during her confirmation hearing in 2003. She presided over scores of consequential and complex civil and criminal cases, and was actively handling the current Ozempic medication multidistrict litigation.

She was an authority on ethics and professional conduct, served on important judicial committees, and helped craft the 2023 amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. She was a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 2007 and held leadership roles with the Philadelphia Bar Association, American Bar Association, National Association of Women Judges, and other groups.

She wrote articles about judicial issues and traveled abroad to speak about ethics and case management. Colleagues on the district court noted her “distinguished scholarship, compassion, and diligence” in a tribute, and Chief Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg said: “She expected a high level of preparation from lawyers, but she was always the most prepared person in the room.”

Judge Pratter championed citizen participation in the legal system and told the Mainline Times in 2004: “I would say the most important part of being a federal judge is to promote and preserve the individual’s belief in a fair judicial system. … If society doesn’t believe courts are incorruptible and uncorrupted, you can’t have an orderly society.”

Colleagues on and off the bench called her “an inspiration to us all” and a “mentor to many” in tributes. They praised her “intellect, integrity, and judicial temperament” and said she “leaves behind a legacy of excellence.”

Earlier, she spent nearly 30 years, from 1975 to 2004, at Duane Morris. She focused on civil litigation and professional liability, and became one of the firm’s first female partners in 1983.

She chaired the firm’s ethics committee and, as its first general counsel from 1999 to 2004, oversaw hundreds of lawyers in dozens of offices. “Gene Pratter was as much a part of the firm’s fabric as its founders and former firm leaders,” colleagues said on the firm’s website.

She also served as a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, and did pro bono work for Philadelphia charter schools and other community organizations. She taught legal ethics and trial advocacy at Penn’s Carey Law School for more than 20 years, was chair of the law school’s American Inn of Court, and served on the school’s board of overseers in the 1990s.

Jen Coatsworth, chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, praised Judge Pratter in a tribute for “balancing a leadership role and a family at a time when greater barriers existed for women to do so successfully.” Judge Pratter told the Mainline Times that her husband, Bob, deserved at least half the credit. “It works only when you have a fully equal partnership with your husband,” she said. “Bob took a full share, 50% of the domestic load.”

Gene Ellen Kreyche was born Feb. 25, 1949, in Chicago. She grew up in Southern California, worked for a time as a wetsuit model and as Alice in Wonderland at Disneyland, and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Stanford University in 1971.

She married Charles Bruton, and they moved to Philadelphia. She graduated from Penn’s Carey Law School in 1975 and had daughter Paige. After a divorce, she married Bob Pratter in 1978, and they had son Matt. Her husband welcomed her daughter into their family, and Paige became Paige Pratter.

Judge Pratter was adept at needlepoint. She liked John Wayne movies, read books about spies and strong women, and decorated every room in her house at Christmas.

She had season tickets to the Phillies for years and rode in the Devon Horse Show. Her favorite getaway was to a cottage on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.

She served on boards at local schools and was active at St. John Vianni Church. “She held herself to unbelievably high standards and never ever let up,” her daughter said.

Her husband said: “She was effervescent, generous, and knew her own mind. We were meant for each other.”

In addition to her husband and children, Judge Pratter is survived by two grandchildren, a brother, her former husband, and other relatives.

Visitation with the family is to be from 9 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, June 8, at St. John Vianni Church, 350 Conshohocken State Rd., Gladwyne, Pa. 19035. A Funeral Mass is to follow at 11 a.m.

Donations in her name may be made to the Fishman Program for Home Assisted Ventilation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, c/o Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.