When Katrina Wadas first arrived at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office as a new prosecutor, she knew she wanted to work with victims to achieve justice, but her sights were not set on any specialty area. That changed when one of her mentors in the office who had a background in family violence cases assigned her to domestic violence cases.
“I immediately fell in love with the work,” said Wadas, 34, now the Supervising Attorney of the DAO’s Family Violence and Sexual Assault (FVSA) Unit. “Being able to give a voice to survivors was important to me.”
A nine-year veteran of the office, Wadas has spent the last two as a supervisor in the unit that handles domestic violence cases, child abuse, neglect and exploitation, and human trafficking, among others. The unit currently has 18 attorneys who each try about 15 cases per year.
Handling cases of such a sensitive nature, where the victims are often young children, requires patience and grace for survivors, Wadas said.
“It can take a long time for people to feel comfortable enough to open up,” noted the Northeast Philadelphia native and Central High grad. “And we know that with domestic violence crimes specifically, often by the time someone has contacted police and decided to press charges, it’s not the first time that something has happened, so as much as they’re willing to share with me, I’m willing to listen.”
Wadas attended Bloomsburg University and initially planned to pursue a career in secondary education, but during her sophomore year her family’s next-door neighbor was shot and killed in North Philadelphia. The tragedy hit close to home and altered Wadas’ career plans.
After graduating from Bloomsburg, she attended Drexel for her law degree. Wadas interned at the Philadelphia DA’s office before passing the bar and accepting a full-time position in 2016. She quickly realized there was a difference between what she learned during her studies and what happened in Philadelphia courtrooms.
“You sort of get thrown in with both feet and it’s a little bit of sink or swim, but luckily, I swam,” she said.
In her supervisory role, Wadas misses being in the courtroom and trying cases herself, but she enjoys helping younger attorneys find their own approach, drawing on her teaching background. She spends most of her time overseeing the attorneys in her unit and doing pre-trial work, and she is still driven by her connection to survivors she has worked with.
“I had somebody who reached out to me a few months ago and her case had been closed out years prior and she just wanted to give me a life update,” Wadas recalled. “I felt so honored that she thought of me after all those years. It made me feel like I was a part of her story in some way.”
Wadas tries to balance her stressful role by spending time with her husband and two young children. She also enjoys reading and going to the gym. The rigors of the criminal legal system can be daunting, but Wadas finds fulfillment in advocating for survivors.
“The highs are very high in this job, and the lows are also very low, and it’s those highs and those little moments that I hold onto that keep me going to hopefully help the next person.”
See more about the DAO’s Family Violence and Sexual Assault (FVSA) Unit here.