Jillian Casarella is a personal injury lawyer who focuses on complex medical malpractice litigation and catastrophic personal injury cases. Casarella was part of the team—along with Kila Baldwin, co-lead counsel—who helped secure a $9.7 million jury verdict—nearly $11.6 million with prejudgment interest—against a neurosurgeon and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for a patient who suffered brain damage during surgery.
Before graduating from Drexel University, Thomas R. Kline School of Law cum laude in May of 2020, Casarella was selected as a judicial intern to work under the Honorable Mark A. Kearney, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. During her time as a judicial intern, she worked directly with Judge Kearney to draft, review, and revise opinions on complex federal issues, as well as observed and assisted with trial preparation. She previously interned at a veterans aid non-profit and two top personal injury firms, taught criminal law as a Dean’s Scholar, and served as a Lead Editor on Drexel Law Review. She also held teaching assistant positions in several courses, including Introduction to Trial Advocacy and Professional Practice Fundamentals, and earned the Best Student Performance award in Legal Methods.
Prior to law school, Casarella received her B.S. in Psychology from Ursinus College in 2017, graduating magna cum laude with Honors in Psychology and as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Casarella, a life-long competitive gymnast, competed on the Ursinus College Gymnastics Team throughout her undergraduate career, and was ultimately selected as captain her senior year. She earned several athletic awards, including being selected as the NACGC/W Gymnast of the Year in 2017 and achieving All-America Honors on both the uneven bars and balance beam. Her passion and love for gymnastics lives on through coaching young gymnasts, dancers, and cheerleaders in the greater Philadelphia area.
Admissions
Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Education
Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Juris Doctor, cum laude
- Honors: CALI Excellence for the Future Award/Best Student Performance in Legal Methods
- Member: Lead Editor on Drexel Law Review; Leadership Fellow for Kline Mentoring Program; Community Service Initiative Member
- Teaching Assistant: Professional Practice Fundamentals; Introduction to Trial Advocacy
- Dean’s Scholar: Criminal Law
- Pro Bono: Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia; Military Assistance Project
Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
- Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude
- Honors: Honors Thesis: Examination of Neurocorrelates of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Adults; Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society; Merit Scholar; Psi Chi Honor Society
- Captain of the Ursinus College Gymnastics Team
- Volunteer: Wismer on Wheels; Special Olympics
Representative Cases
“Judge rules for full delay damages in Brassloff case despite pandemic,” The Legal Intelligencer, 2/21/22
“$9.7 million verdict won in botched brain injury case,” The Legal Intelligencer, 11/16/21