Carol Nelson Shepherd begins work as WIP's new co-chair

Women in the Profession
News from the Philadelphia Bar Association - Spring 2000

Philadelphia lawyer Carol Nelson Shepherd has been appointed by Chancellor Doreen S. Davis to serve a two-year term as co-chair of the Association's women in the Profession Committee. She joins Jane Leslie Dalton in leading the organized Bar's only group specifically working for the advancement of women lawyers.

Shepherd, 47, is a trial lawyer and partner since 1987 in the firm of Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter, Tanner and Weinstock, which limits its practice to the preparation and trial of major civil litigation, primarily in the areas of medical negligence, products liability and other types of personal injury.

In commenting on her appointment, Shepherd said she hopes to bring a longitudinal perspective to the issues that affect women in the profession today. "In order to understand where we're going, we must understand where we've been," she said. "I want to share the perspective I've gained from my experiences as a trial lawyer through the years," she said, noting that Women in the Profession Committee members have traditionally come from very diverse backgrounds. "When we draw on our diverse perspectives, it helps all women lawyers," Shepherd said.

About the benefits of committee membership, Shepherd pointed to the business opportunities the committee creates for its members, like the networking events, and the support for its younger members that is fostered through the Junior Women Task Force's mentoring program. "With a group like the Women in the Profession Committee, women lawyers have the opportunity to meet and connect with similarly situated people. We are no longer alone," she said. "Annually, our Sandra Day O'Connor Award spotlights the progress that women have made in the profession by honoring our role models. This year we'll introduce a new award for Philadelphia law firms and corporations that have been 'family-friendly' in their employment policies. This new award comes on the heels of the committee's work in updating the Bar Association's model employer policies for parenting lawyers."

In talking about the success of the committee's programs, Shepherd credited her co-chair Jane Leslie Dalton, who now is serving her second year as co-chair of the committee. "Jane has been terrific in spearheading the work on our agenda and revamping the way the committee operates," Shepherd said. "She particularly has organized our outreach to law firms and to our male colleagues. Jane Dalton has reminded us that while it is the committee that takes the laboring oar on women's issues in the bar, many times they are actually firm and family issues that affect us all."

A graduate of Wells College, Shepherd earned a BA in sociology and English from Arizona State University and her JD from Syracuse University College of Law in 1978. She has served as vice chair of the American Bar Association's Law and Medicine Committee and over the last 20 years she has written more than 20 articles for publication and delivered more than 80 lectures on medico-legal topics. She has held more than 40 leadership positions in the Philadelphia Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association (PaTLA) and the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association (PTLA). She has served as president of both PaTLA and PTLA.

Shepherd has been honored with both the Milton D. Rosenberg Award for service to the organization and the Special Merit Award for contributions to continuing legal education of the trial bar from PaTLA. The Pennsylvania Bar Association has honored her with the Civil Litigation Section Special Award.