​The Board of Directors of Northwestern Legal Services is proud to announce the selection of Jacqueline Lager as the program's new Executive Director. Jacqueline has been a staff attorney with Northwestern Legal Services since 2013 and has demonstrated her determination to furthering their mission of providing equal access to the civil justice system to people throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania. They are excited to welcome Jacqueline into this new role and to see how her new ideas better shape our community.

Jacqueline is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and of The University of Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. While in school, she dedicated her education to helping those of modest means get protection from the legal system by working at House of Ruth, a domestic violence center in Maryland.  She also interned at the Office of Parental Representation in New Jersey, assisting parents through neglect or abuse cases. Jacqueline participated in her law school’s Family Mediation Clinic and received training in civil and custody mediation. Her experiences during law school solidified her desire to work in public interest.

After a clerkship in Baltimore, she moved to Erie in 2013 where she began working in the Erie branch of Northwestern Legal Services. Jacqueline has focused her practice on helping low income clients with custody disputes, housing eviction defense, unemployment compensation, and mortgage foreclosure defense. During her time here, Jacqueline has also prepared instructional materials and presented many courses for self-help in family law matters.

Since starting with Northwestern Legal Services, Jacqueline has shown success in leadership roles, training new attorneys and paralegals and actively participating in bar organizations. She has attended conferences throughout the Commonwealth where she has given presentations and gotten ideas to bring back and implement in the Northwestern Legal Services service area.