Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson said that she will retire in January after 37 years of service in the city's judiciary.

Massiah-Jackson, 70, made history as the first African American woman to preside over civil trials in Philadelphia and was the first African American president judge of any county in Pennsylvania. Her career, spanning four decades, focused mainly on high-stakes medical malpractice cases.

Now, in an interview with The Legal, she said the time was right to step away from the bench.