Paid for by Friends of Nina Sordoni
Attorney Nina Sordoni of Exeter Township is seeking the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the 44th Judicial District. In 2023, the state assessed caseloads across the Commonwealth and determined that Wyoming and Sullivan counties needed a second judge. The new position will be focused on family law, which parallels Sordoni’s experience and interests.
Nina is happy to call Wyoming County home. She and her Husband, Andrew J. Sordoni wed in August of 2023 and purchased their first home as husband and wife in Wyoming County. She loves that a sense of Community remains within the County.
“Community involvement has always been a driving force to me no matter where I live,” Nina related. “As an undergrad, I was a volunteer with Prevent Child Abuse America. When I was in Philadelphia, I participated in the Civil Justice Clinic and Children’s Advocacy Center of Philadelphia.”
Nina studied accounting at the University of Miami before enrolling in Villanova University’s School of Law from which she graduated in 2013. While in law school, she clerked for Justice Correale Stevens of the Pennsylvania Superior Court handling criminal appeals.
Nina first started handling family cases when she attended Villanova as an associate with the Civil Justice Clinic. During this introduction, she learned, “You often meet with people when they are at their lowest of lows, and you help them rebuild.” She moved on to Wilkes-Barre to work with Arthur Silverblatt, whose father was also a lawyer. Sordoni cited Silverblatt – a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers – as having a reputation statewide as “the family law guru.”
“As an accounting major, I one hundred percent thought I’d be doing corporate work or tax law,” Nina recalled. “When I started practicing law, though, I gravitated toward family work. I really liked the client contact component of it and the courtroom experience it provided. I actually felt that I was making a difference in people’s lives.” Sordoni was a founding partner of SDS Family Law Group where she continues to practice. SDS Family Law Group is based in Forty-Fort with an office in Tunkhannock.
For the May 20 primary election, the registered Republican will cross file to also run on the Democratic ballot, which is standard protocol. “As a judge, political affiliation is really not supposed to matter,” Sordoni said of the non-partisan approach. “The goal of a judge is to be impartial. You can’t make rulings based upon personal feelings. Here are the facts. Here’s the Law. What is the outcome?” Sordoni added that she wants her courtroom to be a courtroom where litigants and attorneys feel heard.
It was in December of 2023 at a Wyoming/Sullivan County Bar Association meeting that Judge Shurtleff shared with local attorneys that the counties will be adding a second judge. In October of 2024, at a meeting of the Tunkhannock Rotary, of which Nina is a board member, President Judge Shurtleff explained that the new position would be focused on family law.
“I just think it fits my background and my qualities,” Sordoni related. “It really resonated with me.”
Family law is a broad pallet that includes solving matrimonial disputes, among other aspects like child custody, child support, adoption, and children and youth matters.
Nina is the youngest of five siblings and the proud aunt of 13 nieces and nephews as her family expands and branches out from the Hazleton area. She is married to Jack Sordoni and has lived in Wyoming County for the past two years. “Whatever community, that’s where your life is, and I’ve always found a way to contribute to it,” Nina related. “Wyoming County has that old time feel that has been lost elsewhere.”
In recent years, she has been involved with the American Cancer Society and the Luzerne Foundation Board, the latter of which has helped her steer funding into Wyoming County, including for Patriots Cove and the new Wyoming County Medical Center. Through community involvement, Nina united with a group of like minded individuals who share a common goal, an activity center.
“When I moved to Wyoming County, I questioned,‘Why is there no activity center here, especially for children?’” As it turned out, that crusade was shared by others. Presently, she and a group of others are working with the Wyoming County United Way to see that the activity center becomes a reality in years to come.
While her current campaign doesn’t leave much time for hobbies, Nina offered, “I love the outdoors. I love to garden. I think that I’m quite a good cook and I love being with my family.” In addition to three brothers and two sisters, she added, “I’m lucky enough to have both of my parents still living.”
To learn more about Nina Sordoni and how to support her campaign, interested readers can follow Nina Sordoni For Judge on Facebook or log on to SordoniforJudge.com.