Before going into private practice in 1990, Debra was an attorney with the enforcement division of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) prosecuting brokerage firms and stockbrokers for investment fraud. Prior to that, she was an attorney and vice president for the international brokerage firm Thomson McKinnon Securities Inc. Debra is chair of the Elder Law Committee, and a member of the Securities Regulations Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. She is on various committees and subcommittees of the American Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Association. Debra is on the Board of Directors of Senior Citizen Judicare Project, a non-profit organization that assists indigent senior citizens with their legal problems. She is also on the Board of Directors for AMIT Children and received an award from the organization for her fund raising efforts on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children.
Debra is an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers, New York Stock Exchange and Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. She is licensed to practice law in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. She holds a Juris Doctor in Law, a Masters Decree in Finance with a thesis on "Program Trading and Stock Markets," and a Bachelors Degree in Accounting. Debra is admitted to the United States Supreme Court, The Tax Court, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United States District Courts, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Philadelphia Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, D.C. Bar Association, N.Y. Bar Association, Connecticut Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, and the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Debra was recently listed in Philadelphia Magazine in its Best Lawyers issue. Philadelphia Magazine, in a survey every five years, asks bar association members whom they would choose if they needed an attorney. Based on that survey, the magazine selected 154 attorneys out of the more than 14,000 lawyers. Debra was the third youngest attorney on the list. She is also listed in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who of American Women.
