Katharine Allen began her legal career in Virginia after earning her Juris Doctor and gaining admittance to the Virginia State Bar. A graduate of Roger Williams University, School of Law in Rhode Island, Ms. Allen spent her last year of study as a Visiting Scholar at Virginia's Washington Lee University School of Law. After working a year in Virginia's capitol, she joined a general practice firm in Blacksburg, Virginia, home of Virginia Tech. There, she concentrated on criminal defense, juvenile justice, general civil litigation and domestic relations.

Ms. Allen was quickly convinced that general practice was, at times, too general for many clients' needs. She opened her own firm in 2003 and limited her practice to criminal defense and non-litigation domestic relations. Ms. Allen and her family moved to State College when her husband accepted a faculty post at Penn State.

After serving an appointment as Special Counsel for the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL), Ms. Allen decided to return to private practice and open an office in State College. She is a member of the Pennsylvania and Virginia State Bars as well as the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia and a variety of legal and criminal defense associations.

Ms. Allen limits her practice to specific subsections of the law in order to most effectively and efficiently serve her clientele.

Areas of Practice

• Criminal Defense
• Family Law
• No-Fault Divorce
• Estate Planning
• Consulting
• Expungement and Pardons Proceedings

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 2006
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of Virginia, 2001
• Virginia, 1999

Education

• Roger Williams University School of Law, Bristol, Rhode Island, May, 1999
  Juris Doctor
  
  
• The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania
  In progress: Ph.D., Law and Policy
  
  
• Washington and Lee University School of Law, Lexington, Virginia
  Visiting Scholar, 1998-1999
  
  
• College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, May, 1993
  Bachelor of Arts
  
  

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association
  
  
• American Association for Justice
  
  
• Montgomery-Radford Bar Association
  
  
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
  
  
• Virginia Bar Association
  
  
• Dauphin County Bar Association
  
  
• Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL)
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Special Counsel
• Law Office of Katharine R. Allen, P.L.L.C., Blacksburg, Virginia, Solo Practitioner
• Long, Long and Kellerman, PC, Blacksburg, Virginia, Associate