Jaclyn E. Crittenden helps clients when they are often at their most aggrieved and vulnerable – when they first seek legal assistance. As part of Kline & Specter’s responsive intake and consultation team, she is the first line of offense in consulting with those who have been injured or suffered the injury or loss of a loved one.

Crittenden handles various types of civil matters, including catastrophic injuries and death resulting from birth injuries, medical malpractice, motor vehicle accidents, and product liability. Most recently she worked on litigation over a medical device called the Sorin 3T Heating/Cooling Unit used by hospitals during open heart surgeries. The firm has filed lawsuits based on claims that design and manufacturing defects caused patient deaths.

Prior to Kline & Specter, Crittenden worked as an E-data attorney at several large Philadelphia firms, where she reviewed, coded, redacted and created privilege logs for discovery documents in various civil matters such as complex commercial litigation, employment discrimination, product liability (pharmaceuticals & aerospace), IP/patent infringement and high-profile defamation cases. Crittenden was also of counsel for a Philadelphia bankruptcy firm and drafted numerous publications on insurance law as a  staff writer for Westlaw Next.

Other past employment includes anti-money laundering compliance work for two large financial institutions.

During law school, Crittenden worked as a summer law clerk for Judge Nathaniel C. Nichols in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas and before that she served as a summer law intern for the Delaware Office of the Public Defender.

Crittenden has a long record of volunteerism, including as a pro bono attorney for a Philadelphia-based citizenship campaign, a Faithful Friends Animal Society volunteer, pet therapy committee member and lead at a Delaware nursing home, mentor for the YMCA Black Achievers Youth in Government program, intake volunteer for Delaware Volunteer Legal Services Legal Help Link and a big sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization of Richmond, Va.

Crittenden earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and her law degree from Widener University School of Law, where was a member of the Widener Journal of Law, Economics and Race, the Black Law Student Association, Jewish Law Student Association, and Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity. At Widener, she earned the Public Interest Law Alliance Pro Bono Distinction, the Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Distinction, and the Public Health Seminar Excellence Award.
Crittenden is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the state and federal courts of New Jersey.