Darlene Hemerka

Darlene Hemerka joined the Public Interest Law Center in September 2017 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by the Law Center. She focuses on representing parents in IEP meetings, advocating for teens with disabilities in the Philadelphia School District, and teaching students and their families about secondary transition services.

Before joining the Law Center, Ms. Hemerka was a judicial law clerk at the Superior Court of New Jersey. She conducted mediation in small claims cases, drafted orders in family matters, and communicated with attorneys and pro se claimants. She also interned with the City of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, and the United States Department of Justice.

In 2016, she received her J.D. from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law. She received her B.A. in political science and urban studies, summa cum laude, from Rutgers University.