Beth Shapiro
Executive Director of the Gittis Legal Clinics
Beth Shapiro manages the operations of the Gittis Legal Clinics, Penn Carey Law’s dynamic and thriving academic law firm comprised of eight teaching clinics and numerous externships. Each clinic serves a dual mission of educating students to become high quality advisors and advocates while meeting pressing legal needs in the Philadelphia community and beyond.
Penn Carey Law’s clinical programs prepare students for legal practice through classroom discussions probing theory, ethics, industry standards, current events, and skill development. In each clinical course, students engage in collaborative learning, receive professional mentoring from expert practitioners, and work directly with clients to achieve their goals. Beth also serves as a faculty supervisor in tutorial sessions with students gaining practical experience as they work alongside accomplished lawyers in the Philadelphia public interest legal community through Penn Carey Law’s robust externship program.
Beth joined Penn Carey Law in 2019, after many years as a legal aid attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, most recently leading CLS’ Language Access Project to improve access to legal services for limited English proficient persons and to advocate on their behalf with the courts, health care providers, and a number of city, state, and federal agencies. She started at Community Legal Services as a National Association of Public Interest Law (now Equal Justice Works) Fellow. Beth began her legal career as an inaugural Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow with the Women’s Law Project. Prior to law school, she served in various health and human services policy positions with the Commonwealth of Virginia, including as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources in two successive gubernatorial administrations. Beth earned a B.A. in government from the College of William and Mary, a Master’s degree in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.