<p>Widener University Commonwealth Law School announced today that Sharon R. L&oacute;pez &rsquo;93 and immediate president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), will serve as the speaker for the school&rsquo;s 28<sup>th</sup> commencement.</p>
<p>L&oacute;pez will address graduates at the 11 a.m. ceremony that is slated for Sunday, May 19 at The Forum in the Harrisburg State Capitol Complex. She will be presented with the degree Doctor of Laws, <em>honoris causa.</em></p>
<p>She is the managing partner at Triquetra Law, a boutique law firm that represents plaintiffs in employment civil rights matters and employee rights cases and proceedings. L&oacute;pez recently served as special counsel for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, where she prosecuted discrimination complaints before the commission at public hearings. L&oacute;pez presently serves as a Hearing Committee member for the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court where she serves as a factfinder and adjudicator involving lawyer disciplinary complaints.</p>
<p>L&oacute;pez is dedicated to serving the professional legal community and is active in the PBA. In 2014, she was nominated to serve as vice president of the PBA and in 2015 she was elected vice president of the association. In May of 2017, was elected president of the PBA. She was the first Latina, the first mother lawyer, the first legal services attorney, the fourth women, and first Widener Commonwealth alumna to serve as president of the largest Pennsylvania voluntary bar association.&nbsp;</p>
<p>L&oacute;pez focused her year as PBA president on attorneys that the legal profession wanted to engage in and support the PBA and the profession: millennials, minorities and mothers. This past year, she served as the Minority Bar Committee co-chair, where she introduced video-conferencing to the monthly meetings, added a special speaker for each meeting, which included Sharon Dietrich of Community Legal Services regarding the new Clean Slate Act, Rep. Joanna McClinton, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and Kristen Gibbons Feden, who prosecuted Bill Cosby and worked to develop and expand the reach of the committee members impact on the legal community.</p>
<p>L&oacute;pez is an active member of the Civil and Equal Rights Committee, Women in the Profession, Gay and Lesbian Rights Committee and the Civil Litigation Section of the association. She was recently nominated to serve on the board for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. Previously, she served on the legal advisory board of the Mazzoni Center, an agency that serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in southeast Pennsylvania. L&oacute;pez and her law partner frequently accept pro bono referrals from the Mazzoni Center, as well as from local legal service offices in Lancaster.</p>
<p>In 2008, L&oacute;pez was awarded the Alumni Outstanding Services Award from Widener Law Commonwealth for her work in promoting diversity and mentoring law students and new lawyers. She also received the designation of Super Lawyer for employee plaintiff&rsquo;s litigation in 2013 and every subsequent year.</p>
<p>L&oacute;pez lives in Philadelphia with her domestic partner, Alan Gross. In her free time, she enjoys city life, running, cooking, salsa dancing, and spending time with her family and friends.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Sharon is a dedicated advocate and mentor to our Widener Law Commonwealth students,&rdquo; said Dean Christian Johnson. &ldquo;We are honored as a law school to welcome back an accomplished alumna to speak about her success and provide words of wisdom and guidance at such an important event for our graduates.&rdquo;</p>
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