Before earning a degree from Penn Law and passing the bar, Christina Swarns was already paving a path for success as a Howard University graduate. Her career in public interest law has taken her from Staten Island to a Supreme Court shortlist. Having started her legal career with the Legal Aid Society, Swarns went on to work at the Capital Habeas Unit of the Philadelphia Federal Defender; the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund; and at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York as the Attorney-in-Charge. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Innocence Project.
How has your Penn education shaped your career?
I got exactly what I came for at Penn. When I arrived, I did not know what I wanted to do, so I did a little bit of everything. I didn’t grow up with lawyers in my family. The privileges, expertise and all of the brilliance that’s associated with Penn trained me to be the lawyer I wanted to be. Elizabeth Warren was my contracts professor, and I had Steven Burbank for Civil Procedure. Penn is an extraordinary place that draws extraordinary people, and my degree keeps giving to this day.
What drives you to continue working in public interest law?
I’m lucky to have found a career that I adore. At the Innocence Project, I play a critical role for people whose lives have been upended in horrifying ways. In every circumstance, I try to bring hope and restore trust. At the end of the day, I strive to be a meaningful, reliable advocate for the people I represent.
How has self-care aided in your professional success?
It has always been important to me to have a universe of friends, many from Penn, who aren’t in my line of work. I also step away from my computer to eat dinner and hang out with my daughter every night. And I love watching really bad reality TV. At work, I encourage my employees to set boundaries and to practice self-care. At the Innocence Project, we’ve been working with a psychiatrist who is educating us about vicarious trauma and secondary stress. Given everything that’s gone on this year—the pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and the uprisings, the election—we can all benefit from reminders about the importance of taking care of ourselves.
At the end of the day, I believe that whole people are better employees. I encourage my staff to do their whole person thing.”Christina Swarns, L’93
Did you receive mentorship at Penn and how do you pass that along to the next generation of lawyers?
I’m not sure that I would say that I had a mentor, per se, but I think the person I have relied on most from Penn is Professor David Rudovsky. No one knows the issues of litigating police misconduct or challenging criminal civil rights cases better than him. I still consult with David—he’s someone I trust to discuss difficult legal questions. I also mentor young attorneys, using my experiences at Penn Law and the mentorship I’ve gained from others as a guide.
Do you have any good career advice to share?
Be honest about who you are. Ask yourself what makes you happy. And then lean into that. I spend an enormous amount of time working so I’m incredibly happy that I enjoy what I am doing. Deciding what kind of law to practice is a hard choice at the front end, but in a long career arc, I have no regrets. I genuinely enjoy my work.
