In-Person Event
CC

Civil Rights Symposium 2025 – Philadelphia


  • City:The CLE Conference Center, Wanamaker Building, 10th Floor, Suite 1010, Philadelphia, PA, 19107
  • Start Date:2025-03-13 09:00:00
  • End Date:2025-03-13 16:45:00
  • Length:
  • Level:Various
  • Topics:Government

$399.00

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Credit States Status Credits Earn credit until

This program is eligible for 6 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 7.2 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.

Overview

Join our panel of experts who will cover the latest hot topics from the most noteworthy federal and Pennsylvania cases and issues of the past year, our panel covering significant issues in immigration law, and our afternoon focus panels. The panels will include coverage of issues raised by the new Trump administration, including those created by President Trump's Executive Orders that impact civil rights issues.

Sessions include:

• In the Morning

  • Hot Topics in Civil Rights Before the Supreme Courts – A Year in Review
  • Significant Issues in Higher Education

• In the Afternoon

  • DEI and Law Firms: How law firms should handle DEI in their own firms and how to advise clients.
  • Immigration Law Hot Topics
  • An Update on Abortion Law: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Decision in Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. PA Dept. of Human Services, and The Abortion Pill

Cosponsored with the PBA’s Civil and Equal Rights Committee

Faculty

Riley H. Ross III, Esq.

Riley H. Ross III is a Partner at Mincey Fitzpatrick Ross, LLC. He has extensive experience in the areas of civil rights litigation, federal criminal law, white-collar criminal defense, Title IX litigation, employment discrimination and general civil litigation. Mr. Ross is an experienced trial lawyer having tried numerous cases in his previous positions as the owner of Ross Legal Practice, LLC; as an attorney with litigation powerhouses Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., and Drinker Biddle & Reath, and Tucker Law Group in Philadelphia; and as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Norfolk, VA. Mr. Ross is the 2023 recipient of The Honorable William F. Hall Award, presented by The Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, Inc. and the 2021 recipient of the Champion Award, presented by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Civil and Equal Rights Committee to an individual who champions for civil rights for all Pennsylvanians. Mr. Ross has been named a “2009 Lawyer on The Fast Track,” a “2010 Pennsylvania Rising Star,” and a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® each year since 2014. Mr. Ross is an active member of the national, state and local legal communities. Mr. Ross is a member and past Chair of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Mr. Ross was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to serve on the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee and as a Hearing Committee Member for the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ross is also an appointed member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Commission. Mr. Ross serves on the Board of Directors of the following organizations: Defenders Association of Philadelphia (Secretary); American Civil Liberties Union – Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA, Vice President); No Longer Bound; and Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. Mr. Ross is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association by serving as a member of the House of Delegates; and as a member of Civil and Equal Rights Committee, the Minority Bar Committee and the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. Mr. Ross is also a member of the Villanova Law Inn of Courts. Mr. Ross is also licensed to practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia. Mr. Ross received a B.S. in Psychology from Longwood College, a M.A. in Experimental Psychology from Western Kentucky University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia. After law school, Mr. Ross clerked for the Honorable James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Jada S. Greenhowe, Esq.

Jada S. Greenhowe joined the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (“PHFA”) as Assistant Counsel in 2014. In her role as Assistant Counsel, Jada provides legal advice regarding an array of topics such as bankruptcy, credit reporting and third-party vendor management and oversight. She counsels PHFA’s secondary mortgage program, the Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, and represents the Agency in civil litigation matters including Actions to Quiet Title and Commonwealth Court appeals. She oversees federal and state regulatory compliance pertaining to the mortgage servicing industry, such as Act 91 (Homeowner’s Emergency Assistance Act), Act 6 (the Loan Interest and Protection Law) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act for PHFA’s Single Family mortgage program. In addition, she handles multi-party transactional real estate closings involving investor partnerships and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in connection with PHFA’s Multifamily program. In 2013, Ms. Greenhowe obtained her Juris Doctor from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law. She earned a B.A. in Communication Rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. Ms. Greenhowe is admitted to practice in the Western, Middle and Eastern District Courts of Pennsylvania. In addition, she is a member of the American Bar Association, the Dauphin County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association where she is a member of the PBA House of Delegates and where she also serves as co- Chair of the Civil and Equal Rights Committee (CERC), and is the co-Chair of CERC’s CLE Subcommittee, as well as its Young Lawyer’s Division (“YLD”) Liaison. In addition, she serves as the At-Large Chair to Diversity for the YLD, is co-Vice Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee and is the YLD Liaison to the Environmental and Energy Law Section. In 2019, Jada was selected as a member of the 2019-2020 class of the PBA’s Bar Leadership Institute.  She is also the 2021 recipient of the Minority Bar Committee’s (“MBC”) Rising Star award and is the current Chair of the MBC Houston’s Rising Star Award Committee.

Elisabeth S. Shuster, Esq.

Currently in private practice, Ms. Shuster was Chief Counsel of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission from 1983-2005. She was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1974 and to the United States Supreme Court in 1978. She served as a Deputy Attorney General, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Civil Litigation, from 1978-83, as an Assistant Attorney General, Pennsylvania Department of Health, 1977-78, and as an Assistant General Counsel, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, 1974-77. Ms. Shuster has done nation-wide training on employment discrimination for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and for numerous legal and business organizations. She has been a course planner and faculty member for several Pennsylvania Bar Institute courses, including the three previous CERC CLEs on Election Law, the annual CERC Civil Rights Symposia, Practice Before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Whose Constitution Is It, Anyway?, Errant Judges and Lawyers: What to Do? and Civil Rights: To Preserve and Protect, and many discrimination law courses, covering the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, general discrimination law, sexual harassment, age discrimination and discrimination on the basis of disability. Her discrimination law publications include “The Commonwealth Court and the Interpretation of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act,” Widener Law Journal, 2011, and “Service/Support Animals,” Pennsylvania Bar Quarterly, 2006. Ms. Shuster served as the Civil and Equal Rights Committee’s ambassador to the PBA Diversity Team from 2010-2015. She served on the “Paths to Leadership” panel at the 2012 YLD Summer Meeting, as a member of the PBA Task Force on the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, and as a member of the “Court as Employer Gender Bias Subcommittee Work Group” of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System. Ms. Shuster received her B.A. from Temple University in 1971 and her J.D. from Villanova School of Law in 1974. She is admitted to the bars of the United States Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Middle and Eastern District Courts of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Ms. Shuster is a member of the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where she is a member of the Civil and Equal Rights (Chair of the CLE Committee, past Chair & Co-Chair of CERC), Women in the Profession (Member of the Executive Committee, Co-Chair of the Book Club), Minority Bar, Statutory Law, and Immigration Law Committees. She is a Bencher in the James S. Bowman American Inn of Court and a past president of the Harrisburg Area Women Lawyers Association. In November 2023, Ms. Shuster was the first recipient of the PBA Women in the Profession’s Special Achievement Award which recognizes achievements by a female member of the legal profession whose actions and work have promoted the betterment of women in the law and have enhanced services to women in general. She was included in the 2021 Women in the Profession Report Card’s “Profiles of Women Advocating for Social Change.” In 2020, Ms. Shuster was awarded the PBA Civil & Equal Rights Champion Award, an annual award established by the Civil & Equal Rights Committee to honor an individual who champions civil rights for all Pennsylvanians.

Nancy Conrad, Esq.

Ms. Conrad is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Department and Chair of the Higher Education Practice Group with White and Williams LLP, resident in Center Valley. She practices in the area of employment law and litigation with a focus on representing businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations in all aspects of workplace disputes. In addition to representing management in employee relations matters, Ms. Conrad’s practice includes the defense of federal and state discrimination claims, wrongful discharge claims, whistleblower claims, employment contract matters and restrictive covenant cases. Ms. Conrad’s practice includes representing colleges and universities in employment and education law matters with an emphasis on tenure related disputes and student discipline proceedings. Ms. Conrad also conducts investigations related to compliance, personnel and misconduct. Ms. Conrad received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Lycoming College and her M.Ed., summa cum laude, from The Pennsylvania State University and her J.D., cum laude, from Temple University School of Law. Ms. Conrad has been selected in a survey of her peers as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and in The Best Lawyers of America. She has received the Athena Award from the Chamber of Commerce, and the Take the Lead Award from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania and has been named by Lehigh Valley Business as a Woman of Influence. In May 2019, Ms. Conrad received the Anne X. Alpern Award from the PBA WIP and in 2022 and 2023, was named on the Lehigh Valley Business Power List in Law. Ms. Conrad is President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and a Past President of the Lehigh County Bar Association. Ms. Conrad is a Past Woman Governor on the PBA Board of Governors and a Past Chair of the PBA DEI Team. She is a Past Chair of the PBA Labor and Employment Law Section and a Past Chair of the PBA Commission on Women in the Legal Profession. Ms. Conrad currently serves as a Vice-Chair of the PBA Federal Practice Committee and serves on the PBA Civil Litigation Section Council and Labor Employment Section Council. Ms. Conrad is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Ms. Conrad is a certified Level 2 Civil Rights Investigator, and Title IX Hearing Officer.

Prof. David S. Cohen

Prof. Cohen is a professor of law at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law, where he teaches constitutional law courses as well as courses in sex discrimination and reproductive rights. His scholarship explores gender construction in the law and abortion providers and provision. He is the co-author of the forthcoming book After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but not Abortion (Beacon 2025, with Carole Joffe) as well as Living in the Crosshairs: The Untold Stories of Anti-Abortion Terrorism (Oxford 2015, with Krysten Connon), and Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion in America (California 2020, with Carole Joffe). After graduating from Columbia Law School, Professor Cohen clerked for Justice Alan B. Handler of the New Jersey Supreme Court and Judge Warren J. Ferguson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before joining Drexel, he was a fellow and a staff attorney for the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia. Professor Cohen continues to litigate cases with the Women’s Law Project, including a win earlier this year before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a challenge to Pennsylvania’s refusal to use Medicaid funds for abortion care.

Prof. Teressa E. Ravenell

Professor Ravenell joined Villanova Law School in 2006 and began serving as Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development in June of 2019.  She teaches Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Civil Rights Litigation, and Police Conduct. Professor Ravenell’s scholarship focuses on § 1983, the federal civil remedy for constitutional deprivations, and examines the points at which § 1983 jurisprudence converges with other areas of the law. She is an expert on qualified immunity, municipal liability, and federal civil rights litigation against police officials. In 2020 she contributed to the American Constitution Society’s What’s the Big Idea? project, a collection of essays by leading scholars in the legal field recommending policy changes to incoming federal and state administrations. Her scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in Temple Law Review, North Carolina Review, Texas Law Review and other leading journals. Professor Ravenell received her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.  While at Columbia, she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Following law school, Professor Ravenell was an associate with Wilmer, Cutler, & Pickering in Washington D.C. and clerked for the Honorable Raymond A. Jackson of the United Stated District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia before joining the College of William and Mary law faculty as a Visiting Assistant Professor.

Mary Catherine Roper, Esq.

Ms. Roper is Of Counsel with Langer, Grogan & Diver P.C., a Philadelphia boutique litigation firm dedicated to seeking social and economic justice for consumers and small businesses. The firm’s expertise is in class actions and other complex litigation, focused in the areas of antitrust, consumer protection, and civil rights. Ms. Roper joined the firm from the ACLU of Pennsylvania, where she served as Deputy Legal Director. At the ACLU, Mary Catherine led an active docket of state and federal court cases spanning a broad range of civil liberties issues, including freedom of speech, criminal justice reform, government transparency, racial and ethnic justice, LGBT equality, and immigrant rights. She is widely recognized as a preeminent litigation strategist, trial lawyer, and appellate advocate. Before joining the ACLU, Ms. Roper was a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP), where she had a diversified complex litigation practice with extensive experience in class actions, consumer protection, corporate governance, defamation and commercial litigation. She represented individual and corporate clients from a wide range of industries, appearing in state and federal courts across the country, as well as in mass tort and federal court multidistrict proceedings. Prior to joining Drinker Biddle & Reath, Ms. Roper clerked for the Honorable Anita B. Brody of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and served a year with the Disabilities Law Project as the first recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation Public Interest Fellowship. Ms. Roper graduated, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1993. She earned her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in 1987. Ms. Roper grew up in Southern California, but now considers herself a Philadelphian and a Phillies fan.

Sandra I. Thompson, Esq.

For more than 18 years, Ms. Thompson of the Law Office of Sandra Thompson, LLC has worked to better the lives of her clients. She has worked in various aspects of the law as a case manager in a children’s group home, a therapeutic support worker, a probation officer and as an attorney in private practice. Ms. Thompson served York County, PA as an assistant district attorney and an assistant public defender. She knows the ins and outs of the district attorney’s office, such as how they prepare for their cases and how they tackle cases in court. Ms. Thompson can represent your interests in the Pennsylvania and federal courts. Sandra is admitted to the PA Supreme Court, the Middle, and Eastern Districts of the United States District Courts, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

Rhonda Fulginiti, Esq.

For nearly 30 years, Rhonda has been an experienced and accomplished litigator who focused her practice on complex litigation. Currently, she is the Manager of Legal Recruiting for the law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Widener University Delaware law School where she teaches Legal Methods I, II and III. She earned her B.A. from Fairfield University and her J.D. from the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law School. Activities: Rhonda is the Co-Chair of the Professional Guidance Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association and is a member of the Professional Liability Committee and the Civil and Equal Rights Committee (“CERC”), of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She was named as the CERC DEI Ambassador in the Summer of 2024 and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She has authored numerous articles including pieces for The Bencher Magazine (November/December 2022), and The Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly Magazine (January, 2023). She is also a member of the Villanova Law J. Willard O’Brien American Inn of Court. For nearly 30 years, Rhonda has been an experienced and accomplished litigator who focused her practice on complex litigation. Currently, she is the Manager of Legal Recruiting for the law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Widener University Delaware law School where she teaches Legal Methods I, II and III. She earned her B.A. from Fairfield University and her J.D. from the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law School. Activities: Rhonda is the Co-Chair of the Professional Guidance Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association and is a member of the Professional Liability Committee and the Civil and Equal Rights Committee (“CERC”), of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She was named as the CERC DEI Ambassador in the Summer of 2024 and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She has authored numerous articles including pieces for The Bencher Magazine (November/December 2022), and The Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly Magazine (January, 2023). She is also a member of the Villanova Law J. Willard O’Brien American Inn of Court. Starting January 2025, Rhonda will begin serving on the Board of Governors for the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Judge Cheryl L. Austin

Judge Austin serves on the Bench of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, as a Senior Judge. Prior to assuming the bench, she was a solo practitioner who limited her practice to Orphans’ Court matters. She is also a retired U.S. Navy Captain. She considers herself a career public servant both professionally and personally. Judge Austin serves on the Pennsylvania Bar Association Board of Governors. Judge Austin formerly served on the boards of the Montgomery County Community College and the Willow Grove NAACP, as well as the Advisory Board of Laurel House, a local social service agency that assists victims of domestic violence. She earned her B.S. from Northwestern University and her J.D. from Capital University. Judge Austin has served Montgomery County as an Assistant District Attorney, Assistant Public Defender and Assistant Solicitor.

W. John Vandenberg, Esq.

John is the Managing Partner of Hogan & Vandenberg. His interest in immigration stems from his first trip abroad, during a mission with the U.S. Navy. Back in the United States, he was originally going to pursue international law but decided to specialize in immigration law during a summer job at the Villanova Clinic for Asylum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services. John has experience with all aspects of immigration, from deportation defense to employment-based visas. He speaks Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, and Portuguese and understands Arabic, Russian, and Spanish. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.

Michael E. Baughman, Esq.

Mr. Baughman is a partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Philadelphia office. He has extensive experience litigating complex commercial disputes in jurisdictions throughout the United States. Mr. Baughman represents colleges, universities and other educational institutions in providing counseling, litigation and investigative services for the unique challenges that face institutions of higher learning. Mr. Baughman has defended numerous lawsuits brought against colleges and universities, in a number of different contexts. He has also represented institutions in investigations relating to complaints filed with the United States Department of Education. Mr. Baughman has provided extensive advice on compliance with the federal Clery Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other federal and state laws that apply to educational institutions. He has provided counseling and advice on drafting and complying with policies and procedures dealing with Title IX of the amendments to the Higher Education Act and the Department of Education’s April 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter.” Mr. Baughman also has provided extensive advice on student conduct policies and proceedings and faculty disputes. From 1996 until 1997 he served as law clerk to the Hon. William H. Yohn, Jr., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Before joining Pepper, Mr. Baughman was a partner at Dechert LLP. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Cornell University and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Aimee D. Thomson, Esq.

Aimee D. Thomson currently serves as a Deputy General Counsel with the Governor’s Office of General Counsel, where she works on elections and health care. She has previously served as a Deputy City Solicitor with the Affirmative and Special Litigation Unit of the Philadelphia City Law Department and as a Deputy Attorney General in the Impact Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Aimee clerked for Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Judge Berle M. Schiller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She also worked at the Electronic Privacy Information Center as the Appellate Advocacy Fellow. Aimee graduated magna cum laude from New York University School of Law, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow. She received her bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, in physics and political science from Colorado College.


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