Hon. Arianna J. Freeman, U.S Court of Appeals Judge, Will Deliver Remarks to Kline School of Law Graduates at Commencement

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Hon. Arianna J. Freeman, U.S Court of Appeals Judge, Will Deliver Remarks to Kline School of Law Graduates at Commencement

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Hon. Arianna J. Freeman, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, will address the 2026 graduates of Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law in a ceremony held at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, May 29.

Kline's class of 2026, which includes 188 graduates - 133 who will receive a JD, 33 who will receive a Master of Legal Studies, nine who will receive a Master of Laws and 13 who will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Law - will be recognized during the ceremony.

Judge Freeman was nominated to serve as a Circuit Judge by President Joseph R. Biden in January 2022 and was confirmed by the Senate in September 2022. When she received her judicial commission in October 2022, she became the first African-American woman and the first woman of color to sit on the Third Circuit.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Freeman was a career public defender at the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She specialized in post-conviction litigation on behalf of indigent individuals in state and federal custody.

Judge Freeman has taught as an adjunct professor at Drexel's Thomas R. Kline School of Law. She has also been active in many civic endeavors, including service on the boards of several local and national nonprofit organizations.

She served as a law clerk to Judge James T. Giles and Judge C. Darnell Jones II, both of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Freeman is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Yale Law School.

Daniel M. Filler, JD, dean and professor of law, will also be speaking at the ceremony, which is slated to begin at 11 a.m. at The Kimmel Center at 300 S. Broad Street.

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