Kathy E. Ochroch

Kathy E. Ochroch
Partner and Director of Pro Bono and Community Impact
Business Litigation

Biography

DIRECTOR OF PRO BONO AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

Kathy Ochroch serves as Blank Rome’s director of pro bono and community impact. In this role, she supervises and coordinates all aspects of the firm’s pro bono program. This includes identifying new pro bono matters and finding opportunities to increase the firm’s pro bono involvement. Kathy also works closely with in-house counsel to develop pro bono partnerships between the in-house lawyers and the firm.

Kathy also maintains a substantive pro bono practice. She serves as one of the lead attorneys on the Commonwealth v. Wilfredo Ramos matter, a capital appeal in which the firm was successful in getting the client’s death sentence vacated. Kathy also handles pro bono guardianship cases, trusts and estates matters, family law matters, social security disability cases, veterans’ discharge cases, and immigration and asylum matters. Kathy serves as a child advocate for abused and neglected children and volunteers to represent children who have been the victim of sex trafficking. 

Kathy volunteers with the following pro bono organizations:

  • The Support Center for Child Advocates
  • The Homeless Advocacy Project
  • The SeniorLAW Center
  • Philadelphia VIP
  • The Legal Clinic for the Disabled
  • The Veterans' Pro Bono Consortium

Kathy has received multiple awards for her pro bono work, including the “Champion of Justice Award” from the SeniorLAW Center, the “White Hat Award” from the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, the “Pro Bono Award” from the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the “Craig M. Perry Community Service Award” from the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, and the “Distinguished Advocate Award” from the Support Center for Child Advocates.

Kathy also handles trusts and estates litigation, including will and trust disputes as well as matters involving powers of attorney. She represents corporate fiduciaries in a variety of matters in the Orphans’ Courts of Pennsylvania, with a particular focus on issues involving guardianships and special needs trusts.

News & Views

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Recognitions

  • 2023, "Impact 75," listed by City & State Pennsylvania
  • 2023, "Best of the Bar," listed by the Philadelphia Business Journal
  • 2023–2025, Commercial Litigation in Philadelphia, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2020, “Champion of Justice,” SeniorLAW Center
  • 2011, “White Hat Award,” The Legal Clinic for the Disabled
  • 2005–2008, “Rising Star,” listed in Super Lawyers
  • 2007, “40 Under 40,” listed in Philadelphia Business Journal
  • 2006, “Pro Bono Award,” Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • 2005, “Craig M. Perry Community Service Award,” Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division
  • 2003, “Lawyer on the Fast Track,” listed in The Legal Intelligencer
  • 2003, “Distinguished Advocate,” Support Center for Child Advocates

Affiliations

Memberships

  • Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Association of Pro Bono Counsel
Professional Activities

Kathy serves as co-chair of the Law Firm Pro Bono Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association and is a member of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel. She is also a board member of Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse. She previously served on the board of directors of the Support Center for Child Advocates, and also served as a board member and first vice-chairman of the board of directors of Nationalities Service Center, an agency that has provided legal and social services to refugees, asylees, and immigrants in the Philadelphia region for over 95 years.

Credentials

Admissions

  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court - New Jersey

Education

  • Dickinson College, BA, cum laude
  • George Washington University Law School, JD, high honors

A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolades are based can be found here.

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