{
    "image": "",
    "content": "<h1>Amoreena Bua</h1>\r\n<h4><img src=\"irl://2298//\" alt=\"Photo of Amy\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />2020 grad fulfills dream of becoming a lawyer through hard work, family support and a leap of faith</h4>\r\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic may keep Amoreena L. Bua from walking across the stage at The Forum in Harrisburg on May 17, but it won&rsquo;t stand in the way of a plan she&rsquo;s been working on for nearly 20 years &ndash; to become an attorney.</p>\r\n<p>Bua, who goes by the nickname Amy, is finishing the law school&rsquo;s extended evening division this semester, and throughout her legal education has continued her fulltime work as a paralegal with Family Design Resources, a nonprofit providing legal services for child welfare programs in all 67 Pennsylvania counties. She works exclusively for the Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Services Agency (CYS) &nbsp;on dependency proceedings and terminations of parental rights.</p>\r\n<p>A Lancaster native and resident, Bua graduated from Franklin &amp; Marshall College in 2001.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;I had always wanted to go to law school, but put my plans on hold when I was expecting our second child my senior year of college,&rdquo; Bua said.&nbsp; She focused on her children, staying home for nine years. When she was ready to return to work, she accepted a job at the same Lancaster CYS agency she works with today, but at that time as a caseworker, investigating child abuse and neglect reports.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;Once I was back at work, my thoughts kept returning to law school. At a certain point, I knew I had to either go for it or put it out of my mind,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>Bua jumped in, taking the LSAT and eventually applying to Widener Law Commonwealth.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t apply anywhere else,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;My husband owns a restaurant, <a href=\"https://www.salsrestaurantpizzeria.com/\">Sal&rsquo;s Pizza</a> in Willow Street, and our daughters were in school in Lancaster. Moving was out of the question,&rdquo; Bua said. &ldquo;I also &nbsp;wanted to keep working. Widener just made sense, and they were also generous in the aid they offered me.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>Bua said that having high school and middle school age children made it a little easier for her to add law school into to an already busy schedule. She said the key was being very structured with time.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;Not being home much in the evenings has been hard,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But now that it&rsquo;s almost over, it feels like it went fast. And my family has been so supportive of me, which has made all the difference.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>Bua said that she knows her children have been impacted in a good way by her going back to school. &ldquo;They have seen what you can do if you are determined and put your mind to it,&rdquo; she said. Her oldest daughter is in nursing school in Lancaster, her youngest in a junior in high school.</p>\r\n<p>Bua has a long list of law school accomplishment. Together with 3L Mike Joyce, she was on the winning&nbsp; trial advocacy team at the <a href=\"https://www.atlac.org/mock-trial-competition\">Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County Annual Academy Mock Trial</a> in February; her team placed second in 2019. She was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society, serving as its secretary and external vice president. She has been on the Dean&rsquo;s List for the past three years and was recognized in multiple classes throughout law school with the &ldquo;CALI Award&rdquo; for having the highest grade.</p>\r\n<p>Working as a research assistant to Professor Christopher J. Robinette, Bua contributed to his portion of <em>Harper, James, and Gray on Torts</em>. She also participated as a &ldquo;Practicum Participant&rdquo; in the Second Chance Clinic with MidPenn Legal Services and as a volunteer at the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic program.</p>\r\n<p>Bua has accepted a one-year clerkship with Judge Donald R. Totaro in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas for this fall.&nbsp; She said she is keeping an open mind about her goals for her legal practice, saying only that she is fairly certain it will include work in a courtroom. &nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>Bua said that the transition to staying at home to finish the school year while working at home for her job during the COVID-19 pandemic has been an adjustment for her after all these years of running.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;I miss the structure of going to campus. I&rsquo;ve been on strict schedule for the past four years, and now I&rsquo;m working from home, going to school from home, and everyone in my family is at home, too, I&rsquo;m having to get my bearings, like everyone else,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking this one day at time,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p><em>Interview was conducted in Spring 2020.</em></p>",
    "box_content": "<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">Contact Information<br /><br /></h5>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Admissions Office&nbsp;<br /></strong><strong>Phone:</strong> 717.541.3903<br /><strong>Fax:&nbsp;</strong>717.541.3999<br /><strong>Email:</strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:admitcwlaw@widener.edu\">admitcwlaw@widener.edu</a>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><br />CONNECT WITH US!<br /><br /></strong><a title=\"Follow us on Facebook\" href=\"https://facebook.com/widenerlawcommonwealth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"irl://639//\" alt=\"Facebook Logo\" height=\"30\" width=\"30\" /></a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a title=\"Follow us on Twitter @WidenerLawCW\" href=\"https://twitter.com/widenerlawcw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"irl://645//\" alt=\"Twitter Logo\" height=\"30\" width=\"30\" /></a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a title=\"Follow us on Instagram @WidenerLawCW\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/widenerlawcw/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"irl://1755//\" alt=\"Instagram Logo\" height=\"30\" width=\"30\" /></a><br /><br /></h5>"
}