Public Interest Law in the Temple Community: A Celebration

Thursday, March 20, 2025

6:00 PM – 08:00 PM

Shusterman Hall

About the Event

Temple Law School has a long, proud tradition of lawyering in the public interest. Our commitments to justice and service are exemplified by faculty, students, and alumni through both their work and their support of colleagues and organizations serving Philadelphia and beyond. Please join us for a celebration of Temple’s commitment to public interest law at which we will honor retiring Professor Susan DeJarnatt for her essential contributions to the public interest community.

The event will feature a panel discussion on the importance of public interest law to Temple’s mission, followed by comments from alumni noting Professor DeJarnatt’s contributions and time for food, drink, and fellowship. We hope to see you there!

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CELEBRATING PROFESSOR SUSAN DEJARNATT

Professor DeJarnatt began teaching legal research and writing at Temple Law School in July 1996. Her scholarly research focuses on rhetoric in the debates about bankruptcy and education reform, on the connections between composition theory and legal writing pedagogy, on the impact of privatization on public education, and on the importance of incorporating international and cross-border issues into legal writing courses. She has frequently taught in and directed the Temple Rome summer program and has been a visiting professor at the University of Verona. She is on the Editorial Board of the National Education Policy Center. In 2008 Professor DeJarnatt won the University Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Before teaching full time, she was a staff attorney at Community Legal Services, Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1985 to 1996, specializing in consumer protection, bankruptcy, and housing issues; and from 1982 to 1984, an associate at the Philadelphia law firm of Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow and Young. Following graduation from Temple Law School, she served for two years as law clerk to the Honorable Joseph S. Lord, III, Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Theodore A. McKee

Theodore A. McKee Judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Ted McKee was sworn in as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on June 20, 1994 and became Chief Judge of that court on May 4, 2010. He graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law in 1975 where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and earned several honors for outstanding academic performance. He began his legal career at a large Philadelphia law firm, but left there in 1977 to begin his career in public service. He has since been an Assistant United States Attorney, Deputy Solicitor in the Law Department of the City of Philadelphia, and General Counsel to the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

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He was elected to a 10-year term as a Judge of the Court of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania in 1984.

While a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Judge McKee chaired the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals by President Clinton shortly after being retained for a second 10 year term on the Court of Common Pleas.

Judge McKee serves on the boards of directors of several nonprofit organizations and institutions including the Vera Institute of Justice, Syracuse University and the National Constitution Center. He is also a member of the Board of Visitors of Temple Law School, an honorary member of the Board of Visitors of Syracuse University Law School and has been an advisor to the American Law Institute’s Project to revise the sentencing provisions of the Model Penal Code. Before becoming Chief Judge of the Third Circuit, he served on the Criminal Law Committee of the United States Judicial Conference. Most recently, Judge McKee was appointed to serve as a member of the National Academy of Science Committee on Law and Justice, and is one of the inaugural members of the Council on Criminal Justice, a national thinktank comprised of leading scholars, lawyers and judges that focuses on issues related to criminal justice and criminal justice reform.

Judge McKee’s official travels have included Ghana, where he taught law and worked with the Ghanaian Supreme Court; as well as Russia, where he had the honor of addressing the Council of the Russian Judiciary on the Independence of the American Judiciary.

about the speakers

Andria Bibiloni (’21)

Executive Director, Norris Square Neighborhood Project

Andria Bibiloni is a lawyer, visual artist, and educator. She earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, and a J.D. from Beasley School of Law, Temple University (’21). Andria started her career 20 years ago as a high school art teacher and went on to become an adjunct professor of art and digital media. Over time, she built a career as a visual artist with work in public collections including the Brooklyn Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

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As a lawyer, Andria was an Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow at Philadelphia Legal Assistance, focusing on vacant land policy and property ownership rights for longtime residents in the Kensington area. She then clerked for the Hon. L. Felipe Restrepo on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, where she served as a volunteer for the Eastern District of PA Reentry Court Program.  Andria served on the Norris Square Neighborhood Project Board of Directors for nearly three years before being hired as Executive Director in 2024. 

Donna Bullock (03')

President and CEO Project HOME

Donna Bullock is the current President and CEO of Project HOME, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering adults, children and families to break the cycles of poverty and chronic homelessness.

She is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the 195th Legislative District, which includes parts of North Philadelphia. She held the seat from August 11, 2015 – July 15, 2024. During her tenure in the State House, Donna served as Majority Chair of the House Children and Youth Committee and Ethics Committee as well as Chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.

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Before running for public office, Ms. Bullock worked as special assistant and attorney for the Philadelphia City Council President’s Office, and as an attorney at Community Legal Services and Laura Solomon & Associates. She is a graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and Rutgers University.

Ms. Bullock’s past and current board service includes child welfare, legal services and housing-related organizations. A servant leader, she is committed to improving the lives of others in her Strawberry Mansion community and the City of Philadelphia.

Nancy MacEoin (03')

Assistant Federal Defender, Chief Trial Unit, Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Nancy has been a public defender for over 20 years. She was a trial and appellate attorney in the state office and worked as research and writing attorney and trial attorney in the federal office. In her roles in each office, Nancy zealously represented clients in a myriad of types of cases; including a few capital trials. Most recently, in addition to maintaining a full case load, Nancy served with distinction as a Training Supervisor. In that role she implemented an onboarding program for new attorneys and developed CJA training seminars, training programs for the newly appointed CJA panel members, as well as activities to connect the Federal defender office to the CJA panel members.