About Temple Law

Eleanor Bradley

Hometown:
Drexel Hill, PA

Undergraduate School:
University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IN

Temple Law Class:
2014

Post-Graduation Employment:
Law clerk for the Honorable Franklin S. Van Antwerpen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit;
Associate at Ballard Spahr LLP

Experience Prior to Law School

I am originally from Drexel Hill, PA. For my undergraduate degree, I attended the University of Notre Dame, where I majored in Accountancy and minored in Italian. After graduating from Notre Dame, I worked for three years as an auditor in the Insurance and Banking practice group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. While at PwC, I became licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Pennsylvania.

Student Groups

While at Temple, I was the Editor-in-Chief of Volume 86 of the Temple Law Review, a staffer on Volume 85 of the Temple Law Review, a Student Code of Conduct Advisor, and the 3L Honor Code Representative for the Student Bar Association. I was also a Teaching Assistant for Professor Glennon’s Torts class and Professor Monroe’s Integrated Transactional Skills class and a Research Assistant for Professor Monroe and Professor Lin.

Favorite Faculty Members

This is a very difficult question because so many professors at Temple—especially Professors DeJarnatt, Glennon, Lin, Little, Monroe, and Reinstein—have had such a tremendous impact on me. However, I will pick the two who had the biggest impact: Professor Tom Lin and Professor Robert Reinstein.

Professor Tom Lin has had an enormous impact on me in a relatively short time period. I first met Professor Lin during the fall of my 3L year when I began working as his Research Assistant. From our very first meeting, Professor Lin expressed sincere enthusiasm and interest in my career trajectory. During one of our conversations, I communicated my indecision regarding what practice area to enter after graduation. In response, Professor Lin designed a Guided Research curriculum to help me resolve that indecision. The curriculum spanned various advanced topics in law and finance and was one of the best learning experiences of my law school career. Ultimately, that research helped me choose a practice area to enter.

Professor Reinstein has been a mentor for me since my 1L year when I was a student in his Constitutional Law class. From the first day, I knew that Con Law would be a challenge for me. However, Professor Reinstein was able to guide me through that challenge. His office door was always open, and I spent many hours in there working through difficult issues. After 1L year finished, Professor Reinstein remained a strong influence in my legal education. He assisted me with picking a topic for my law review Comment and was instrumental as I navigated the clerkship application process. As the faculty advisor for the law review, Professor Reinstein helped me navigate many sensitive issues by providing measured and sensible advice. I am so thankful for all of the help that Professor Reinstein provided me with during my time at Temple.

Law School Memory

I can pinpoint two distinct memories as my favorites from my time at Temple Law: this year’s Student Symposium and the various “Law Cappella” concerts that I have attended while at Temple. These two memories are meaningful to me because they both represent times that I was blown away by the level of talent that exists at Temple Law.

My first favorite memory is the Student Symposium. During the spring of my 3L year, all of Temple’s student-run, scholarly journals cohosted a Student Symposium. At the Symposium, six students presented the Note or Comment they wrote as a staffer on a journal to an audience of faculty members and fellow students. For me, the event was an incredible way to celebrate student scholarship and showcase the extraordinary talent of some of Temple’s students.

A second cherished memory of mine is the various “Law Cappella” concerts I have attended while at Temple. At these concerts, which typically occur right before final exams, Temple students (including some of my closest friends) perform a cappella songs for an audience of their fellow classmates. The concerts are such a welcomed break from finals period, and they bring some much needed levity and laughter during a stressful time.

How I Will Use My J.D.

Next year, I will serve as a law clerk for the Honorable Franklin S. Van Antwerpen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Following my clerkships, I will be an associate at Ballard Spahr LLP.

What about Temple Law will you carry with you as you leave to pursue your career?

I hope to carry two significant pieces of advice that I have received with me as I leave Temple Law to pursue my career. The first piece of advice came to me from before I even stepped foot in Klein Hall. That advice came from my mom, a 1982 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s law school. In response to my stresses about the level of competition in law school and the dreaded curve, my mom told me, “It is never you versus everyone else. It is you versus the test. Do the best that you can against that test, and do not worry about anyone else.” I embraced that attitude and found that it was common at Temple, where the attitude and relationships among the students were overwhelmingly collaborative—as opposed to competitive. I hope that I maintain that collaborative attitude in my future endeavors.

The second piece of valuable advice came to me at the end of my law school career—from Professor Tom Lin. During our final meeting, I asked Professor Lin what advice he had for me as I began my career. He told me that I should never let work fundamentally change who I am. Despite the inevitable stress associated with a legal career, I should always remain true to myself and not allow pressure to change me. I hope to heed his advice and maintain my sense of self throughout any and all future challenges.

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