Three Members of the Class of 2019 Receive Pro Bono Distinction Award

David Secor '19 & Waqar Rehman '19

The Philadelphia Bar Association recently recognized Villanova Law alumni Shannon Beam ’19, Waqar Rehman ’19 and David Secor ’19 with the Eve Biskind Klothen Law Student Pro Bono Distinction Award, which is given to area law students for their commitment to pro bono and public interest work. Beam, Rehman and Secor each devoted hours of their time to pro bono legal work through Villanova Law’s in-house clinics, student organizations and externship placements.

Beam participated in the Moot Court Executive Board, the Walter Lucas Public Interest Fellowship Program and the Pro Bono Society. She volunteered with Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia, Face-to-Face Legal Center, Wills for Heroes and the New York Legal Assistance Group. Beam interned with Freking Myers and Reul, LLC and the Department of the Interior, Office of Civil Rights. She also completed externships with Medical-Legal Community Partnership of Philadelphia and the Montgomery County Office of the Public Defender in the Juvenile Division, and she clerked for the Hon. Sierra Thomas Street in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Thanks for checking. Post-graduation, Beam will be working for the Snohomish County Public Defenders Association in Washington State. 

Rehman joined the Pro Bono Society his first year at Villanova Law and became the organization’s 1L representative. He completed internships with Community Legal Services and the public defender’s office in Brooklyn, NY, as well as externships with the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project and the Defender Association of Philadelphia. In addition, he volunteered at the civil rights and criminal defense firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg, & Lin. Post-graduation, Rehman will serve as a public defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

During his time at Villanova Law, Secor represented low-income farmworkers in the Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic (FLAC). He was also involved in the National Lawyers' Guild, the Environmental and Energy Law Society, the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity and the International Law Society. Secor interned with Community Legal Services and externed with the National Immigrant Justice Center in Washington, DC.