PROVIDENCE — After hearing witnesses attest to lawyer Kristen E. Rodgers’ legal talents, her athletic prowess and even her compassion for stray dogs, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the full Senate confirm her appointment to the Superior Court.

The judgeship nomination of Rodgers, the daughter of retiring Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph F. Rodgers Jr., is expected to be voted on by the full Senate on Friday.

Before she spoke on her own behalf, the committee heard from Rodgers’ high school principal, from Superior Court Judge Alice B. Gibney and from lawyer Joseph V. Cavanagh Jr., of Blish & Cavanagh, where Rodgers is a partner and has worked for 13 years.

They spoke variously of her excellence in academics, gymnastics and track; of a legal mind that can express complex legal questions in simple, clear language, and her volunteer work for disparate causes such as Special Olympics and the Warwick animal shelter.

Robert J. Shapiro, who was the principal of Warwick’s Toll Gate High School when Rodgers was a star athlete and honors student there, said that when Rodgers committed to something, it was wholehearted.

“She was frequently called upon, very frequently called upon, to participate in extracurricular activities,” said Shapiro, who retired in 2007 as Warwick’s superintendent of schools. “She gave a lot back to the school.”

Cavanagh said his firm often represents out-of-state clients in Rhode Island’s federal court and that Rodgers, 41, would quickly win over demanding clients and lawyers from other states.

“They learned they were dealing with right person in our firm,” he said.

He said Rodgers was able to break complex issues into easily understood explanations, an important talent for a judge, he said.

He also cited Rodger’s collegiality.

“You can be confident you’ve got someone who is a team player,” he said. “This is a top-quality lawyer and person.”

Speaking for herself, Rodgers said she thought she’d make good judge because of her diverse experience in pressing and defending cases. Besides handling First Amendment issues for media companies, including The Providence Journal, Rodgers defended Sherwin-Williams Co. in the state’s lead-paint lawsuit and represented the Big East when Boston College left the athletic conference in 2003.

Her voice cracked when she spoke of her inspiration for her legal career — her father.

“I have observed a great role model for 35 years,” she said, her voice quavering, as her father looked on stoically and her mother, Donna, wiped her eyes.

“I am here so I can give back to the state.”

Rodgers is married to state police Trooper Scott N. Raynes; they have a 3-year-old daughter. She earned an undergraduate degree from Boston College in 1989 and a law degree from Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in 1992. She clerked for the late Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Florence K. Murray, and from 1998 to 2002 worked as assistant town solicitor in East Greenwich. Before joining Blish & Cavanagh in 1996, Rodgers was at Tillinghast Licht & Semenoff, Inc.

Sen. Charles J. Levesque, D-Portsmouth, said he was impressed that Rodgers’ former principal, Shapiro, wanted to testify on her behalf.

If he’d known his high school principal was to testify about him, Levesque quipped, “I’d probably want a postponement.”

jhill@projo.com