• Max Baer died suddenly at his home near Pittsburgh on Saturday.
• He was 74 years old. After a long career in law, he was sworn in as chief justice in 2021.
• The new Chief Justice Debra Todd said, “This is a huge loss for the Court”.

Max Baer, the head of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, died suddenly at his home near Pittsburgh on Saturday. He was 74 years old.

In a statement, the new Chief Justice, Debra Todd, who has been on the court the longest, said, “This is a huge loss for the Court and all of Pennsylvania.”

“Pennsylvania has lost a judge who did a great job for the Court and the people of the Commonwealth,” she said. “Chief Justice Baer was a powerful and smart judge who was always focused on doing justice in a fair and balanced way.

“He was a tireless advocate for children, committed to protecting and providing for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens,” the statement said.

Post Gazette, a local news source, says that Baer was first elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2003. After a long career in law, he was sworn in as chief justice in 2021.

The judge was supposed to leave the court at the end of the year when he or she turned 75, which is the mandatory age for leaving the court.

The man from Pittsburgh is said to have graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971 and then from Duquesne University School of Law in 1975.

From 1975 to 1980, Baer was also Pennsylvania’s deputy attorney general.

“His distinguished service and commitment to justice and fairness spanned his decades on the bench – first as a family court judge in Allegheny County and eventually as administrative judge in family court before being elected to serve on the Supreme Court,” Todd said.  “On behalf of the Court, we offer our deepest condolences to family, friends and colleagues of Chief Justice Baer.”

Since Baer has died, Pennsylvania’s governor, Tom Wolf, will have to fill the seat he left open on the state’s highest court.

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