Kathleen Wilkinson

Kathleen Wilkinson has been elected as chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, a position she will assume in January, 2013.  Wilkinson built her practice and earned her reputation defending complex cases involving a variety of products, construction, premises, professional liability, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. A litigator with more than 25 years of experience, she is regularly entrusted by clients with their most difficult cases, frequently involving death and severe injury and exposures of up to $20 million.  Well known for her strong leadership capabilities, Wilkinson was appointed by former Governor Edward G. Rendell to serve on the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness. Wilkinson was also a founding member of Villanova University’s School of Law J. Willard O’Brien Inn of Court (a member of American Inns of Court).  In June 2004, she became the first woman president of the Inn of Court. She was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to serve as a member of the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence Committee from 2006–2008. Wilkinson has received numerous awards, including the Anne X. Alpern award from the PBA Women in the Profession Committee in June 2008.