“Fearless lawyer, feminist, activist, television and radio commentator, warrior, advocate, and winner” Gloria Allred CW’63 will serve as our 2023 commencement speaker.
Award-winning women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred CW’63 has been named the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s commencement speaker for the Class of 2023.
Allred has won countless honors for her pioneering legal work on behalf of victims who have been discriminated against due to gender, race, age, physical handicap, sexual orientation, sexual harassment, or because they have AIDS. Allred has a personal connection to this year’s graduating class as her grandson, Sam Wong L’23, will be graduating.
“We are thrilled to welcome Gloria Allred to the Law School as this year’s commencement speaker,” said Ted Ruger, Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law. “Given Ms Allred’s impactful leadership and groundbreaking advocacy, hearing her words of wisdom will be a powerful capstone to our students’ formal legal education.”
Allred’s law firm, Allred, Maroko & Goldberg (AM&G), of which she is a founding partner, has been the leading women’s rights private law firm in the nation for 47 years, winning hundreds of millions of dollars for victims. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, AM&G is also well-known for its work on behalf of victims of rape, child sexual abuse, and battered women.
“I start every day with the knowledge that helping people and fighting for justice is my duty and that nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice, self-discipline, and courage,” said Allred.
Allred’s preeminent position in the legal field has been recognized by two United States presidents. In 1986 at the White House, President Ronald Reagan presented Allred with the President’s Volunteer Action award for Outstanding Volunteerism for her work on child support, and President Barack Obama has introduced Allred as “one of the best attorneys in the country.”
She has also received the President’s Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers and has been voted by her peers as one of the best lawyers in the United States.
In January 2014, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Trial Lawyers for her trailblazing and pioneering role in combating injustices and winning new rights especially for women and minorities. She was also honored at the 2016 International Women’s Forum (IWF) World Leadership Conference with the IWF Women Who Make a Difference Award. In 2018, Allred received the Lenore Kramer Award for Excellence from the Women’s Caucus of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW) for her enduring commitment to fighting injustices against women.
In 2019, Allred was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York; that same year, California Rural Legal Assistance presented her with the Dolores Huerta Adelita Award, which honors women who are trailblazers in their communities.
In 2021, Allred received the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Lawyer Magazine for her work as “a true trailblazer” and also was one of the rare recipients of the Praeses Elit Award by Trinity College Dublin Law Society for the advancements she has made for women’s rights and civil rights throughout her career.
In 2022, Allred was the grateful recipient of the LGBTQ+ Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Co-President’s Award, their highest honor given to an individual who exemplifies and advances the values and goals of the Association and who has made outstanding contributions to the LGBTQ+ legal and broader community.
Allred, author of Fight Back and Win, My Thirty-Year Fight Against Injustice – And How You Can Win Your Own Battles, is a three-time Emmy nominee for her commentaries on KABC television in Los Angeles. Her nationally syndicated television show “We the People, with Gloria Allred” was also nominated in 2012 for a Daytime Emmy Award. In 2017, Netflix announced “Seeing Allred,” an original documentary about Allred and her battles for justice. “Seeing Allred” launched globally on Netflix in February 2018 and is still streaming on Netflix.
Learn more about the 2023 Penn Carey Law Commencement schedule and activities.