James Giles.

A former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has retired again, this time from Pepper Hamilton—but only to take another law firm position at Blank Rome.

Former Judge James Giles is now of counsel to Blank Rome's commercial litigation group, the firm announced Thursday. He had been of counsel at Pepper Hamilton since 2008, when he retired from the bench.

“It's one thing to plan a retirement, but it's another thing to look it in the face,” Giles said. “I decided I still had a lot to offer. The timing was right, and I was encouraged to come out of retirement” by colleagues at Blank Rome.

Giles joins Blank Rome on the heels of two other recent commercial litigation hires from Pepper Hamilton.

Blank Rome brought on partner Charles Marion in Philadelphia last week, and partner Andrew Fletcher in Pittsburgh the week before that. Marion's practice focuses on intellectual property, franchise, securities, products liability, and complex business disputes. Fletcher works on intellectual property litigation as well, and complex business suits.

Grant Palmer, who chairs Blank Rome's litigation practice, said the group will continue to grow, particularly in Pittsburgh. He said litigation has generally been busy, and especially in trade secret and noncompetition matters and in large mass tort cases.

Giles focuses on alternative dispute resolution. He will also advise clients on complex matters and work with Blank Rome's diversity and inclusion and pro bono committees.

He noted that disputes are being resolved more and more frequently through arbitration or mediation.

“That's the result of parties coming to understand in a dollar-and-cents way that there are practical ways of resolving complicated disputes,” he said. “There's no reason why that's going to fall off.”

Two other of counsel and one partner at Blank Rome are also former federal judges: Edward Cahn, Nathaniel Jones and Stephen Orlofsky, respectively. Giles said he was impressed by the practices other former judges have built at the firm.

“This is something that has been a focus of mine for many years. The federal judges who have joined us and other judges have been very successful,” Palmer said. “We have been looking to add to our roster of former judges because they bring so much to our clients, and they've also been helpful to drive revenues in our ADR practice.”

Before spending nearly three decades on the bench, Giles was a partner in Pepper Hamilton's labor practice. He was Pepper Hamilton's first African-American lawyer, and the first person of color in the firm's partnership. President Jimmy Carter appointed him in 1979, and he served as chief judge of the Eastern District from 1999 until 2006.

In a statement Thursday, a spokesman for Pepper Hamilton said the firm wishes Giles, Marion and Fletcher well.