Villanova Law Alumni Honored by the Philadelphia Bar Association

The Philadelphia Bar Association (PBA) recently honored three Villanova Law alumni with awards for judicial service, dedication toward serving the public interest and legal writing.

The Honorable James J. Fitzgerald III ’66 was awarded the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award, which recognizes a jurist who adheres to the highest ideals of judicial service. Fitzgerald served a 10-year term in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas until 1999. In 2002, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Fitzgerald as an Administrative Judge in the Trial Division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. He was appointed Interim Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court where he served from 2007 – 2008, after which he was appointed Senior Judge of the Superior Court. He also served as the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Commission on Judicial Independence and as a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

Marguerite Gualtieri ’91 received the Bending the ARC Award, awarded annually by the Public Interest Section of the PBA to honor a legal services advocate or public defender. Gualtieri is the Managing Attorney of the Support Center for Child Advocates, where her work is dedicated to the representation of children and young people who have been victims of abuse or neglect. She entered Villanova Law after practicing for ten years as a licensed social worker, which fueled her interest in social justice and working in public interest. While at Villanova Law, Gualtieri served as Editor-in-Chief of the Villanova Law Review. She is a former co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Children’s Rights and Family Law Litigation Committees.

Bridget Whan Tong ’18 was awarded first place in the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Pursuit of Justice” Legal Writing Competition. Whan Tong received the award for her paper, “What’s in a Name? Matal v. Tam and the Right to Own Disparaging Words,” forthcoming in The Philadelphia Lawyer. While at Villanova Law, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal, and she is currently serving as a Judicial Law Clerk for Magistrate Judge Sherry R. Fallon in the U.S. District Court.