Vivian L. Medinilla, a former Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, has joined Weiss, Saville, Medinilla & Houser, PA, where her practice focuses on alternative dispute resolution and litigation. In 2013, she was nominated by then-Governor Jack A. Markell, and confirmed by the Senate, as the first Latina appointed to the Superior Court. Vivian is bilingual in English and Spanish with over three decades of legal experience, both on Delaware’s highest court of general jurisdiction and in private practice.
During her 12-year term on the Court, she presided over hundreds of jury and non-jury trials and served on the Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division, which is dedicated to the adjudication of business disputes. She managed dockets that included mass torts, asbestos, product liability, medical negligence, and other civil litigation matters.
As a professional neutral, before and during her judicial career, Vivian has obtained certifications specializing in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from the Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law, as well as the National Judicial College and the Superior Court of Delaware. Vivian has mediated complex matters while on the bench and is now a Fellow of the Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals (ACAN).
Before her judicial appointment, Vivian served the Markell Administration as the Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families, where she led the State agency on efforts to improve the child welfare, juvenile justice, and child mental health systems. Prior to that, she was a trial lawyer with Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP, and president and owner of the state’s first multi-lingual civil litigation law firm.
Vivian sits on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, the Board of Trustees for Ursuline Academy, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Delaware State Bar Association (DSBA). She previously sat on the Boards for Salesianum School, Westside Family Healthcare, St. Francis Hospital Trinity Health, and the Latin American Community Center.
She was an adjunct professor at the Delaware Law School. She served as Chair of the National Conference of State Trial Judges of the Judicial Division for the American Bar Association (ABA). She currently serves as Vice President of District Directors for the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) and its former representative to the House of Delegates for the ABA.
Vivian received DSBA’s Women’s Leadership Award in 2020. She was inducted into the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame in 2012. She was the recipient of The Strong, Smart & Bold Award from Girls, Inc. in 2012, the Distinguished Hispanic Delawarean Award in 2010, and the Haskell/Wyeth Award from Delaware Futures in 2009. In 2014, she received the Angela Boyle Service Award from her alma mater, Ursuline Academy.
Vivian has three adult children, a plant named Thirsty Howell III, and lives in Wilmington.
