Bekah Saidman-Krauss

What do you enjoy most about your role at Penn State Dickinson Law?
The people! From my team to our students to the dean, everyone who works or studies at Dickinson Law is truly exceptional. A strong sense of community is intrinsic to the Dickinson Law experience, and our community is so extraordinary because of the incredible humans who have chosen Dickinson Law as their academic or professional home.

A Penn State Dickinson Law favorite:
I love the excited energy that permeates the law school during orientation and graduation. These rituals, which bookend the law school experience, are two of my favorites.

Best piece of advice for anyone considering Penn State Dickinson Law:
Take time to get to know your professors. Not only are they incredible scholars and subject-matter experts, but they are also genuinely nice people who have a lot of non-legal interests. They can serve as advisors and mentors in and outside of the classroom.

Favorite thing to do in your spare time:
Spending time with my goldendoodle and/or human friends!

You’d never guess… :
When I was a kid, I saw Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan filming You’ve Got Mail in New York.

Life before Dickinson Law:
I earned my B.A., cum laude, in comparative religion at Smith College, where I also worked as a research assistant for the Chair of the Program for the Study of Women and Gender and took several courses in that department as well. After graduating from Smith, I worked as a legal assistant in New York for a few years before returning to Pennsylvania to attend Dickinson Law. During law school, I worked for Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a summer associate for Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia, and for Judge Yvette Kane of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Dickinson Law, I worked as an associate at Pepper Hamilton’s Philadelphia office. As a member of the firm’s Health Effects Litigation Practice Group, I concentrated my practice on defending pharmaceutical companies in products liability and personal injury actions as well as in claims brought by state Attorneys General for restitution of Medicaid payments and civil penalties. I am currently licensed to practice in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Three words to describe yourself:
Ebullient, gregarious, fun

Favorite books:
I’ll offer some favorites in categories. Favorite memoir: Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz. Favorite historical fiction: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Favorite dystopian fiction: To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara. Favorite series: the Beartown trilogy (Beartown, Us Against You, and The Winners) by Fredrik Backman.