Professor Kerrin Kowach joins SLU Law with 17 years of experience in the private practice of law. Most recently, Professor Kowach was a partner at a Pittsburgh-based law firm where she specialized in complex and high-stakes commercial litigation. Her practice included the defense of securities fraud actions, class actions, and financial statements litigation. She has appeared in trial and appellate courts throughout the country. She also has handled arbitration actions governed by AAA and FINRA arbitration rules. In addition to her practice, Professor Kowach spent five years as her firm’s hiring partner, was the deputy director of the firm’s litigation group, and served on the firm’s management committee.

Professor Kowach graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from the Georgetown University Law Center. She received her B.A. in sociology and political science, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Villanova University.

Following law school, Professor Kowach clerked for the Honorable Deborah K. Chasanow of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and Judge Irma Raker of Maryland’s highest court, the Maryland Court of Appeals.  After a year at a D.C. area law firm, Professor Kowach relocated to Pittsburgh and spent several years as an associate at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart (now K&L Gates).

Professor Kowach is a member of the bars of Missouri and Pennsylvania and is licensed to practice in various federal courts. She is active in a number of community organizations, serves on the Board of Voices for Children, and volunteers at the St. Louis Central Institute for the Deaf.