Mary DeFusco Ochal
Education
- B.A. 1979 University of Pennsylvania
- J.D. 1982 Temple University School of Law
Biography
Mary DeFusco Ochal, Esq., an attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, serves as the Defenders’ Director of Training and Recruitment. She is responsible for the recruitment and initial training of all new attorneys as well as the continuing legal education of experienced public defenders.
Ms. Ochal serves as the Defender Association's representative on the Oversight Committee of the Philadelphia Treatment Court. Ms. Ochal, along with representatives of the Court and District Attorney's Office, was instrumental in the creation of this nationally renowned court, which integrates drug treatment with the criminal justice system.
Ms. Ochal is also a founding board member of Dawn’s Place, a unique program in Philadelphia, serving the needs of trafficked, pimped, and prostituted women.
Since joining the Defender Association of Philadelphia in 1982, Ms. Ochal served as Deputy Chief of the Municipal Court Unit for eight years, and as a trial attorney for five years. She received her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and her J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 1982.
Ms. Ochal teaches trial advocacy at Temple University School of Law and has taught nationally and locally for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) since 1991. Ms. Ochal is on the faculty at the National Defender Training Project in Dayton, OH and she also teaches at the Pennsylvania Defender Trial Skills Training Program in Carlisle, PA. Ms. Ochal was a past recipient of the Cesare Beccaria Award and the St. Thomas More Award.
