PBA Women in the Profession Spring Conference 2026: Hidden Hands: The Untold Stories that Shaped the Nation

Diana B. Carlin is professor emerita of communication at Saint Louis University and is a founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. She has taught courses on and written about first ladies for thirty years. Her recent publications include U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies with Anita B. McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith published in August 2023 and forthcoming fall 2023 Remember the First Ladies. She has authored book chapters on Martha Washington, Julia Grant, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama. Her research and writing also covers women in politics, presidential communication, and political debates.

Chief Judge Karen Arnold-Burger is a fourth-generation Kansan born in Kansas City, Kansas. She attended Johnson County Community College and the University of Kansas for her undergraduate degrees and earned a law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law. She worked as a municipal and federal prosecutor and then as a municipal judge before being named to the Kansas Court of Appeals.

Judge Lazarus received her B.A. in psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1972. She received both her J.D. (1976) and LL.M. in Taxation (1986) from Temple University Beasley School of Law. Judge Lazarus served as Legal Counsel to the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court. She also practiced law in the estates department of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, in Philadelphia before being appointed to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County by Gov. Robert P. Casey. Judge Lazarus was elected to a full term as judge in 1991 and served on the Philadelphia bench until 2010. During her tenure as a trial court judge, she served in the Criminal, Civil Trial and Orphans’ Court Divisions. Judge Lazarus worked diligently to increase pro bono service by the bar and, in 2005, was the first recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Legal Services for the Public Committees Judges Award in recognition of her pro bono efforts. She was also a long-standing member of the Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, serving as its chairperson from 2005 through 2009, and served as chairperson of the Pennsylvania Supreme Courts Ad Hoc Committee, Judicial Canons of Ethics, from 2010 to 2012. Judge Lazarus was appointed to the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board in 2011 and served as the chairperson from 2014-2015, when her term expired. Judge Lazarus is a frequent lecturer for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, speaking on such topics as judicial ethics, Orphans’ Court practice and procedure, and issues surrounding incapacity. She is active in the Temple American Inn of Court, in which she is a past president; the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society, which she served as Inaugural Chancellor; and is past president of the Brandeis Law Society Foundation. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the Brandeis Law Society’s Benjamin F. Levy Community Service Award, the PLAN of PA Bernard White Community Service Award and the Philadelphia Bar Associations 2013 Sandra Day O’Connor Award. Judge Lazarus was elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in November 2009 and was sworn in as a member of the Court in January 2010. Judge Lazarus was unanimously elected as President Judge of the Superior Court by her peers and began her term in January of 2024.

Stephanie Latimore is the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, where she supervises the preparation of legislative, historical, and ceremonial materials for the General Assembly and the publication of administrative regulations for Commonwealth agencies and leads a staff of more than 70 employees in an executive management role. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maryland School of Law. Ms. Latimore is an active member and Woman Governor member of the Board of Governors of the PBA and has served in many key leadership roles, including current Chair of Wellness and Well-being Committee, past Co-chair of Women in the Profession, for which she was awarded the PBA President’s Award for Excellent Programming; past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute; former Minority Governor-at-Large on the PBA Board of Governors; past chair of the PBA Minority Bar Committee; and past chair of the Editorial Board. She served as co-chair of PBA Bar Leadership Institute and has served on the Judicial Evaluation Commission for over a decade. Ms. Latimore is the current chair of the Quality of Life Committee of the Dauphin County Bar Association. She has taught at the Penn State University Middletown Campus as an adjunct professor for the Paralegal Program. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

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.