Jennifer W. Levy-Tatum is hoping to become judge of Chester County Court of Common Pleas as a Democrat. If the results of the primary elections are an indication to how she will fair, then Levy-Tatum has a good chance of victory.

Because judicial candidates can receive votes from both parties, she received 78 percent of the Democratic votes and 41 percent of the Republican votes, ending with more than 3,000 more votes than her opponent.

A native of Jamaica who moved to the United States in 1987 and became an American citizen in 1994, Levy-Tatum became interested in law after working at a real estate firm. She opened her own law firm in 1999 in West Chester,

“I was working with real estate planning attorneys,” she said. “That is how I became interested in real estate law.”

Levy-Tatum has an extensive background in education. While living in the Cayman Islands, she was a high school teacher for nine years. She is currently an adjunct professor of business law and business ethics at Eastern University.This directly correlates to one of the goals that she has if elected to the bench.

“I want to work with new immigrants,” she said. “There is a volunteer English program in West Chester.”

Another serious topic with Levy-Tatum is the well-being of children.

“I also want to work with the Second Mile program, which works with children who needs positive human contact,” she said.

Levy-Tatum’s experience in real estate law runs deep. She is an arbitrator with the Chester County Court of Common Pleas as well as a Moot Court Judge at the Widener University School of Law where she graduated cum laude in 1997.

Not long after graduation, she worked at the prestigious Ballard Spahr Andrew and Ingersoll law firm of which Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell once worked.

“I believe that my diverse life experiences as well as my legal background will stand me in good stead on the bench. I am a Black woman, an immigrant, and I have strong ties to the Hispanic Community. I have tried cases and/or appeared before zoning boards in numerous jurisdictions,” she said. “I am known as a pragmatic, respectful woman, with an ability to see through the smoke and cut to the chase. Those are the qualities which I will bring to the bench, in addiction to the ability to sift through complex facts, analyze the law logically and apply the law to the facts to arrive at a sound and just decision.”