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Home Faculty»Stella Tsai L’88
Stella Tsai

Stella Tsai L’88

Adjunct Professor of Law

Hon. Stella M. Tsai was appointed to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas then elected in November 2017. Judge Tsai was a distinguished business litigation partner in the Philadelphia office of Archer & Greiner, PC concentrating in regulatory compliance, land use, and ethics. Ms. Tsai re-entered private practice after serving as Chair of Administrative Law at the City of Philadelphia Law Department from 2000-2003 where she managed the attorneys who represent the child welfare and social service agencies.

Throughout her career in private practice, Judge Tsai remained actively involved in pro bono and public service through numerous organizations and public policy initiatives. She was and inaugural member of the Reconstituted City of Philadelphia Board of Ethics, which is charged with enforcing the city’s campaign finance and ethics laws. In 2011, the Hon. Michael A. Nutter appointed Judge Tsai to the City’s Zoning Code Commission (“ZCC”) to help rewrite the Zoning Code and help modernize how future development, and facilitate sustainable growth would be managed. After the ZCC concluded its work, Mayor Nutter appointed Judge Tsai to the Board of Trustees of the Community College of Philadelphia, the largest public institution of higher education in Philadelphia. Judge Tsai has also chaired or held other leadership positions on numerous non-profit boards including the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania, the Women’s Law Project. Volunteers for the Indigent in Philadelphia (“VIP”), Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, and Legacy Youth & Tennis Education.

While in private practice, Judge Tsai provided countless hours of pro bono representation and advocacy for low income individuals in a wide range of matters including custody and support disputes, voting rights cases, civil rights cases, political asylum and other immigration issues.

Judge Tsai earned her BA in political science with honors and distinction from the Pennsylvania State University in 1985 and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School in 1988.