About
Judge Djerassi
“I view justice and judgment through a lens of compassion, empathy, and mercy. I believe everyone deserves to be heard, and most importantly, I never give up on people.”
Before the bench
Ramy Djerassi was born in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of Bulgarian and Israeli immigrants, Ramy’s father, a doctor, moved the family to Philadelphia when he was just three years old. A Philadelphian through-and-through, Ramy was raised in the public schools through elementary school before studying at Episcopal Academy in Merion.
Ramy completed his undergraduate degree at Yale, where he was a member of the Yale Daily News, a member of the Yale College Council, and a DJ for a New Haven radio station. With a passion for journalism and connecting with people, Ramy went to work at CBS News in New York before deciding to go to law school at Tulane University School of Law.
“Initially, I wasn’t sure if being a lawyer was my calling,” said Ramy, “but I loved writing and reporting, and I thought law school would be a good experience and give me deeper insights into how to tell someone’s story.”
Developing a knack for the law
It turns out that Ramy loved the law, and upon graduating from Tulane, Ramy worked under Richard Sprague, a well-known and highly respected Philadelphia lawyer who instilled in Ramy the importance of preparation, attention to detail, and case strategy. Sprague inspired Ramy to join the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney, and it was during his four years with the DA that Ramy first started trying cases and gained understanding of the work done by both police and judges.
After four years with the DA, Ramy took a year away from the law to return to journalism, working at the Camden Courier-Post before opening his own practice where he did criminal defense and civil litigation for 13 years. As a defense lawyer, Ramy worked on a number of high-profile homicide cases and won reversals for three different death penalty inmates due to problems during their penalty phase trials. While in private practice Ramy also attended the Fels School of Government at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a Masters of Government Administration.
In 1995, Ramy became a committee person for the Center City 8th Ward of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee. With the Democratic Party’s endorsement, Ramy won his election in 2003 and was then retained in 2013. Over the course of his tenure on the bench, Judge Djerassi has overseen cases in the Family Courts and Criminal Courts before moving into the Civil Courts, where he currently presides as the senior member of Philadelphia’s renowned three-judge Commerce Court on the Court of Common Pleas.
A commitment to the Philadelphia community
Judge Djerassi’s impact can be seen through his work on and off the bench. When he was serving in the FJD’s Family Court Division, he implemented a protocol that resulted in the rescue of 24 runaway foster children, and increased attention and emphasis on the importance of the court’s involvement in finding runaways. For three years, Judge Djerassi sat on the West Philadelphia Zone Court of Major Crimes in FJD’s Criminal Trial Division, where he saw first-hand the impact of violence and drug addiction. It was that experience, followed by his time in the West Philadelphia Smart Room, where he developed an interest in the reentry of returning citizens – individuals who were previously incarcerated but are now released on probation. He saw that many of these individuals, particularly those put on drug treatment programs, would relapse within three to four weeks. Judge Djerassi knew there needed to be better coordination to support people with reentry, so he co-founded what is now known as the Philadelphia Network of Care for Prisoner Reentry, one of the nation's first ever web-based directories for reentry. In 2021, Judge Djerassi founded The Accountability Project, a non-profit dedicated to reducing recidivism. The project’s method is to monitor program attendance in real time for persons judges assign to addiction treatment, job training, and community service.
Off the bench, Judge Djerassi has been involved in a number of organizations including Habitat for Humanity of West Philadelphia, where he served as legal counsel and then board president, and Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, where he served as President. He is passionate about his family – his wife Monica and three kids Isa, Sofia, and Nick – as well as his family still residing in Israel. He’s a lover of jazz and still speaks fondly of his days DJing at Yale, Tulane, and WRTI-FM, “The point of Jazz,” in Philly. During football and basketball season you can find him cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles and the 76ers.
Paid for by Ramy Djerassi