Janell S. Ostroski was publicly sworn in for her first term as a Judge of the Family Court of the State of Delaware last week at the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center (formerly the New Castle County Courthouse) in Wilmington.
Family Court Chief Judge Michael K. Newell welcomed the audience to the investiture and Judge Ostroski’s son Jake led the Pledge of Allegiance. The invocation was performed by Gail M. Hauske, Judge Ostroski’s sister. Chief Judge Newell then administered the Oath of Office as Judge Ostroski’s daughter, Audrey and her mother, Janet Schoenbeck, held the Bible.
Ostroski replaces Judge Jay H. Conner, who recently retired from the bench after more than 30 years with Family Court.
Following the Oath of Office, Gov. Jack A. Markell, along with Ellie Torres, the executive director of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council; Kelly Sasso of Gonser & Gonser P.A. and Lynn McGinley, the sister of Judge Ostroski, offered remarks.
Before being nominated, Ostroski had served as a Commissioner of the Family Court since October 2009. Before that, she worked in private practice and in various roles for the Family Court, including as a contract attorney for both the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program and the Indigent Parents in Child Support Proceedings. Judge Ostroski also worked as a Civil Commitment Attorney for the Superior Court and as a Due Process Hearing Officer for the Delaware Department of Education.
Ostroski is a 1986 graduate of St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington, Delaware and a 1990 graduate of the University of Delaware, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She received her law degree from Widener University School of Law in 1993.
