Phyllis T. Bookspan Esq.Wayne, Pennsylvania
| Of Counsel | |
| phone | (610) 254-9060 |
| fax | (610) 254-8304 |
| Email Me | |
Attorney Phyllis Bookspan, is a respected legal professional, with over 20 years experience as a law professor, clinical director, trial lawyer, and scholar. Ms. Bookspan has her J.D and a Master of Law in Trial Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center. After law school she held a prestigious E Barrett Prettyman two year fellowship at Georgetown Law School, and was supervising attorney of theJuvenile Law Clinic. For over 20 years she was a Professor of Law at Widener University School of Law. She has taught classes in Criminal Law, Women and the Law, Children's Rights, and lectured nationally and internationally on Domestic Relations and Criminal Law matters.
My Philosophy
Next to loss of a loved one, divorce is the most stressful event one can face. I understand this, and keep it in mind always when we work together. Thus, my goal is to get you the BEST RESULT while also reducing tension and making your case go as smoothly as possible. I will keep you informed, and educated about what may sometimes seem a confusing or frustrating process.
When we first meet, I will listen to your wants, desires and needs, and work hard to understand the specific dynamics of your family situation. I treat each client as the unique individual you are. Because each case is different, you will have a personalized approach. At our initial consultation, I will explain the family court system and different options available to you. While traditional divorce is the route for some, your case may be a good candidate for mediation or collaborative divorce. We will discuss this together, and I will help you decide on your right path.
I will use my experience as a lawyer, professor, yogi and mediator to work to get you what you need to resolve your legal matter and move on to the life you and your family can trust. I will work to keep your case out of court, but if we need to go to court, I will use my years of trial work to be “tough as nails” to fight for your cause. I promise to work with you to make sure that your feel supported emotionally, and physically; and I will be sensitive to keeping costs of your case reasonable. Throughout, I will be candid with you about what you costs you can expect.
Selected Presentations/Media Commentary
Estate Planning and Divorce--What Every Family Law Attorney Should Know, Inn of Court Presentation-January 2011
Cocktail Party Chatter--What Attorneys Should Do Or Say At Social Events, Pennsylvania Bar Institute-December 2010
Too Young to Die? A Look at Evolving Standards of Decency and the U.S. Juvenile Death Penalty International Conference of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, the Hague Netherlands, 2003
Training on American Criminal Practice and Procedure, American University, Quito, Ecuador 2002
Delaware Tonight WHYY TV - expert on numerous legal topics
It's Your Call With Lynn Doyle - CN8 - comments on current legal events
Radio Times with Marti Moss Kohane- WHYY Radio
"Workplace Sexual Harassment" ... " Forum on Victims Rights"
AM Philadelphia TV - Victim's Rights
LAW SCHOOL SERVICE
Committees:
Clinics, Chair
Curriculum, Chair
Promotion to Associate Professor, Chair,
Second Law Review, Chair
Technology, Chair
Curriculum
Dean Search
Faculty Appointments
Faculty Development
Health Law Institute
Placement
Tenure Promotion and Policies
Tenure Reporting
Tenure Rules
University Faculty Affairs
- Education:
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
M.L.A.
Major: Trial Advocacy - Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
J.D. - Herbert H. Lehman College, C.U.N.Y.
B.A.
Major: English Literature
- Published Works:
- Ban Life Without Parole For Juvenile Offenders, The Pennsylvania Lawyer, March, 2011
- Too Young to Die? A Look at Evolving Standards of Decency and the U.S. Juvenile Death Penalty, Delaware Lawyer, 2004
- On Mirrors and Gavels: A Chronicle of the Use of Menopause as a Legal Defense Against Women (With Maxine Kline), 32 IND. L. REV. 1267, 1999
- In the U.S. Supreme Court: Can States Require Drug Tests for Office Seekers, West Legal News, 1997
- A Delicate Imbalance: Family and Work, 5 TEXAS JOURNAL OF WOMEN AND THE LAW 37, 1995
- From A Tender Years Presumption to a Primary Parent Presumption: Has Anything Really Changed, Should It?, 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L. 75, 1993
- Reworking the Warrant Requirement: Resuscitating the Fourth Amendment, 44 VAND. L. REV. 473, 1991
- Jar Wars: Employee Drug Testing, The Constitution and the American Drug Problem, 26 AM. CRIM. L. REV. 359, 1988
- Behind Open Doors: Constitutional Implications of Government Employee Drug Testing, 11 NOVA 307, Winter , 1987
- Hold Firms Liable for Health Costs, OpEd., Philadelphia Daily News, March 16, 1993
- Ernie and Big Bird: Lovable But Sexist, OpEd. Philadelphia Inquirer (With Diane Heiman), April 4, 1992
- Employee Drug Tests: Risky Business, 10 Delaware Business Review, March, 1988
- Do Judges Make the Law, 4 Del. State Bar Journal, December , 1987
- A Balanced Privacy, 40 Delaware Lawyer 41, Fall, 1987
- Editor and Project Director, THE PUBLIC INTEREST CAREERS BOOK, 1983
- CHILDREN IN THE COURTS, Butterworth Legal Publication, 1982
- Prosecuting a Termination of Parental Rights Case, FOSTER
- Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Presenter, Estate Planning and Divorce, Doris Jonas Freed Inn Of Court, King of Prussia, PA, 2011
- Presenter, Cocktail Party Chatter, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) Philadelphia, PA, 2010
- Presenter, Too Young to Die? A Look at Evolving Standards of Decency and the U. S. Juvenile Death Penalty 17nd International Conference of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, The Hague, Netherlands, 2003
- Speaker, Menopause As A Legal Defense Against Women, Delaware Valley Law Professors, February 5, 2000
- Presenter, Eastern Sociology Society Conference, Committee on the Status of Women, Boston, Massachusetts, March 5, 1999
- Speaker, ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), Delaware State College, Dover, Delaware, May 20, 1998
- Coordinator/Presenter, Legal Issues in Pediatric/Physician Relationship - Joint Conference, American Association of Pediatrics and the Health Law Institute, Widener University School of Law, April 4, 1997
- Moderator, Domestic Violence Seminar, Widener University School of Law, April 1, 1997
- Presenter, Family and Work: A Delicate Imbalance, Temple University School of Law, 1996
- Speaker, Domestic Violence, Jewish Federation of Delaware County, Coatesville, 1995 - Present
- Speaker, Domestic Violence, Jewish Federation of Delaware County, Wallingford, 1995
- Presenter and Conference Coordinator, SALT (Society of American Law Teachers), University of Minnesota, September 23, 1994 - September 24, 1994
- Presenter, Narratives and Justice, Delaware Valley Law Women, 1994
- Presenter and Small Group Leader, SALT (Society of American Law Teachers) Teaching Conference, Santa Clara University School of Law, October 28, 1993
- Presenter, Delaware Valley Law Women, 1993
- Presenter, North America Family Law Conference of the International Society on Family Laws, Jackson Lake, Wyoming, June 9, 1993 - June 12, 1993
- Presenter and Small Group Leader, SALT (Society of American Law Teachers) Teaching Conference, New York University, May 21, 1993 - May 23, 1993
- Speaker, Domestic Violence and the Legal Defense of Battered Spouse Syndrome, Widener University School of Law, Women’s Law Caucus, March 25, 1993
- Keynote Speaker, Privacy and the Abortion Debate, CLOSE UP AMERICA, Chichester High School, PA, January 27, 1992
- Speaker and Moderator, ACLF The Impact of New Technologies on Civil Liberties; A Symposium, Widener University School of Law, 1990
- Luncheon Address, General Federation of Women's' Clubs, 21st Century Justice, September 25, 1989
- Speaker, Employee Drug Testing and Your Rights, CAPS Program, Widener University, 1988
- Debate, Employee Drug Testing, Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Widener University, 1987
- Panel Discussion, Employee Drug Testing, Delaware Youth Fair, 1986
- American Criminal Practice and Procedure to Ecuadoran Jurists and Lawyers, American University, Quito, Equador, 2002
- Coordinator and Instructor, Delaware lawyers serving as Criminal Justice Act
- Advanced Training Seminar, Federal Defenders Association, Washington, D.C., 1990
- "Train the Trainer", U.S. Sentencing Commission Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, 1989
- Honors and Awards:
- Advisor to Moot Court Honor Society
- Coach, National Moot Court Competition
- Coach, Polsky Interscholastic Moot Court Competition
- Coach, Prince Evidence Competition
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- National Association of Professional Women
- Center for Resolutions- Media, PA
- Volunteer Mediator
- ABA
- Juvenile Justice Committee
- PA Bar Association
- Women in the Profession Committee
- Family Support Line, Delaware County, PA
- Common Cause, Delaware
- Past Employment Positions:
- Bookspan Family Law, Conshohocken, PA, Founder, 2009
- RYAH Yoga and Health, Conshohocken, PA, Founder and Owner, 2006
- Widener University School of Law, Professor of Law, 1996 - 2006
- Juvenile Advocacy Clinic, Founder and Director, 1999 - 2003
- Juvenile Advocacy Clinic, Associate Professor, 1988 - 1996
- Juvenile Advocacy Clinic, Assistant Professor, 1985 - 1988
- Widener Geneva Summer Law Institute, Director, 1999
- Widener Geneva Summer Law Institute, Professor, 1995
- Juvenile Justice Clinic, Supervising Attorney, 1984 - 1985
- Pro Bono Activities:
- Guest Commentator, Delaware Tonight WHYY TV
- Guest Commentator, It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle
- Guest Commentator, Radio Times with Martie Moss Kohane WHYY, Workplace Sexual Harrasment"
- Guest Commentator, AM Philadelphia WCAU-TV, "Jury Selection"
- Guest Commentator, News Sunday WGHT, New Jersey,Grossberg/Peterson Case
- Guest Commentator, WILM Grossberg/Peterson Case
- Guest Commentator, Newsmakers WILM, "Getting Tough on Juvenile Crime"
- Guest Commentator, WHYY-TV, O.J. Simpson Trial and Verdict
- Guest Commentator, Channel 17, Inquirer News Tonight, "Insights into the O.J. Simpson Trial"
- Guest Commentator, Channel 17, Inquirer News Tonight, "Gender Equality in Law School"
- Guest Commentator, WILM, "Reginald Denny Verdict and Jury Decision-making"
- Guest Commentator, WHYY-TV, Evening News, "Reginald Denny Verdict"
- Guest Commentator, The Bill Grant Show, WDEL, "Drug Testing in the Public Schools"
- Guest Commentator, The Barry Young Show, KFYI, Phoenix, Arizona "Sexism on Sesame Street"
- Guest Commentator, WILM, "Anti-Flag Burning Amendment"
- Guest Commentator, Newsmakers, WDEL, "DNA Fingerprinting"
- Guest Commentator, WILM, "Oliver North Verdict"
- Board of Directors, Delaware Valley Friends School, Paoli, PA
- Board of Advisors, Jewish Family and Children's Services of Philadelphia
- Board of Directors, Family Support Line, Delaware County, PA
- Board of Directors ACLU Delaware
- Steering Committee, Member Common Cause Delaware
- Chair, Adoption Task Force, Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Philadelphia, National Association of Professional Women
- Volunteer Mediator - Center for Resolutions
- PA Bar Association - Women in the Profession Committee


