I am supporting Christine Millinder for Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court.
When I left the Public Defender Office and opened my own firm several years ago, I found myself practicing areas of civil law that were largely new to me. Estates. Adoptions. Child Dependency cases. Appeals of the foregoing cases. I was often lost, and always found Christine Millinder to be a calm, competent, and knowledgable resource in her office.
Now, several years later, I mostly know what I am doing. I cannot express how reassuring it is to know that someone like Christine is serving as the Acting Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. I often say that institutional memory and experience are underrated. Nowhere is that more clear than in this office. It is vital, and Christine represents the latest link in an unbroken chain of knowledge and experience stretching back for decades.
Roger Bierly was first elected Register of Wills in 1983. When Bierly became ill in 2005, his Chief Deputy Clerk, Kimberly Barton, was named Acting Clerk. Barton herself stood for election in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011. In 2014, Barton stepped down for medical reasons, and her Chief Deputy Clerk, Christine Millinder, was named Acting Clerk. We are fortunate to have the knowledge and experience of decades distilled into Christine.
The Clerk of the Orphans’ Court is an important role of the Register of Wills. It is vital that this job be done by someone who knows the intricate rules governing the highly specialized areas of law that involve that office. Those of us whose practices rely on that office working flawlessly truly appreciate Christine’s knowledge and professionalism. Christine stepped into this role unexpectedly, and has done an exemplary job. To lose her experience would be a tragedy of the highest order. I look forward to working with Christine for many years to come.