Gary S. Glazer is a retired Judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. He brings more than three decades of judicial experience to his work as a mediator with ADR Options.
Throughout his career, Judge Glazer has earned a reputation for integrity, thoughtful preparation, fairness, and a practical approach to
dispute resolution.
Serving on the Court of Common Pleas beginning in December 1991 and subsequently elected to three consecutive ten-year terms, Judge Glazer presided over a wide range of complex civil and criminal matters including:
commercial litigation
medical malpractice actions
real estate disputes
class actions
construction matters
pharmaceutical cases
asbestos matters
employment matters, non-compete covenants
administrative appeals
Judge Glazer devoted a substantial portion of his judicial service to alternative dispute resolution. As a Senior Judge, he mediated numerous disputes and developed a mediation style that combines facilitative and evaluative techniques.
Judge Glazer approaches each mediation with the same commitment that defined his years on the bench: preparation, respectful engagement, integrity, and the conviction that parties deserve the opportunity to make informed decisions regarding the resolution of their disputes.
For more than twenty years, Judge Glazer has served as an Adjunct Instructor in Trial Advocacy at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. In 2005, he was selected as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Institut des Hautes Études sur la Justice in Paris, where he delivered four lectures in French concerning the American legal system.
In June 2026, Judge Glazer was selected by the Commercial Court of England and Wales to serve as a facilitator in its Judicial Observation Programme involving emerging judges from Ukraine, Vietnam, Cambodia, Montenegro, and Gabon. He has also participated actively in the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC), attending conferences in New York, Qatar, and India as both participant and speaker.
Since 2013, Judge Glazer has participated as faculty in continuing legal education programs sponsored by the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leadership at Waynesburg University and conducted at Jesus College in Cambridge, England. He has lectured on judicial independence, the rule of law, judicial corruption, enforcement of foreign judgments, artificial intelligence and the law, and artificial intelligence in mediation and ADR. In July 2026, he presented ‘Mediation and the Law.’
Judge Glazer also served as Supervising Judge of the Commerce Program.
In 2011, while continuing his Commerce Court responsibilities, Judge Glazer was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as Administrative Judge of the Philadelphia Traffic Court. He led sweeping reforms during a highly publicized corruption scandal, helping restore public confidence and overseeing the court’s transition into the Philadelphia Municipal Court.
To add to his mediation skills, Judge Glazer completed courses in Dispute Resolution Skills in 2007 and Civil Mediation in 2024 at the National Judicial College.
Judge Glazer graduated from The Ohio State University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude and with distinction, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1975.
