Sweet Stevens Names New Partner, Senior Associate
News Release
New Britain, PA – Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams has announced promotions for two attorneys of the firm: Christina M. Stephanos has been named partner, and Shawn D. Lochinger appointed senior associate.
Stephanos joined the firm in 2012, bringing a multifaceted professional perspective to Sweet Stevens. In addition to her law degree, she holds a diploma in Special Education, certificates in both Reading and Elementary Education and she taught Language Arts and Special Education for six years. Her practice involves ongoing consultation and representation of school districts in a variety of matters; preparing and presenting special education audits with specific recommendations for overall programming, staffing and supports; representing school districts in due process administrative hearings; and providing professional development on a variety of topics including mock due process hearings, discipline, special education programming, the role of the local educational agency, and inclusion.
Prior to joining the firm, she was a staff attorney for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Child Advocacy Unit and represented abused and neglected children in dependency proceedings. She also served as an assistant district attorney in the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted pre-assigned criminal cases and assisted with narcotics investigations and prosecutions.
Stephanos is admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the United States District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania, and the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. She earned her B.A. from Rowan University and her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law. She resides in Harleysville, PA.
Lochinger joined Sweet Stevens in 2015, bringing a background in special education law and labor and employment law in schools. He has served as a hearing officer for gifted education as well as expulsion hearings and in student discipline cases. Lochinger has represented clients at the administrative level and in federal court, before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the EEOC, the OFCCP, and unemployment compensation referees.
He regularly conducts in-house training sessions on sexual harassment, employment discrimination, special education and numerous other employment and education law topics. He speaks at conferences around the region for such entities as the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education.
Lochinger is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He earned his B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College, and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law. He resides in Palmyra, PA.
Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams, LLP was formed in 1995 by nine experienced education lawyers who created the first private law practice in Pennsylvania dedicated entirely to Education Law. Since then, the firm has grown to 20 attorneys who represent over 290 school and municipal entities as Solicitors or as Special Counsel in more than 50 counties throughout Pennsylvania.
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