Mentor Megan Tidwell

I am Megan Tidwell – Chief Defender for the Lebanon County Public Defenders. I majored in Political Science and minored in Philosophy at Villanova University. After college, I was the counter girl at Pizza Plaza for 8 months. There, I spent much of my time dropping pizzas and telling customers to clean their own tables before attending and graduating from Temple University Beasley School of Law.

As one might expect of the daughter of a detective, I went to law school to be a prosecutor. However, following law school, I clerked for the Honorable Jordan B. Yeager of the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas where I realized I wanted a career defending the people of the Commonwealth instead of caging them. As the Chief Defender of a small, rural county, I am both a full-time criminal defense attorney and the managing attorney rebuilding an office that is capable of zealous and holistic representation.

I get through the tougher days with the moral support of my partner and our three cats – Dorothy, Lloyd and Cheez-it. I enjoy Olympic weightlifting and was a local weightlifting competitor for 10 years. I am currently working on making more time for myself and getting back into lifting and running.

I am excited to be a part of the Emerging Leader Academy. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience and learning from everyone else along the way.