Kathleen Meriwether, Esq., ’79, and Ellen Meriwether, Esq., ’81, were the first of their five siblings to attend college. They both found purpose and success at La Salle University laying the foundation for successful careers as lawyers.

Kathleen (Kathy) Meriwether, Esq., ’79, and Ellen Meriwether, Esq., ’81, first knew of La Salle University as a basketball rival.

Growing up in Drexel Hill, Pa., the two oldest of five children were taught early on about Big Five basketball. Their father, a Villanova University graduate, made being a fan of the Wildcat’s basketball team nonnegotiable.

However, when the two sisters were choosing a place to attend college, La Salle was crowned the winner. Both had the opportunity to visit the campus. First Kathy, who had a friend a few years older, and then Ellen, who came to campus to see her sister. Both enjoyed the atmosphere and community. It felt “familiar.”

It was also made accessible to Kathy and Ellen through full tuition scholarships. They were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to receive their undergraduate degrees debt free, and today, are paying it forward through gifts to La Salle so future Explorers can receive the same experience. Ellen and her husband Steven established the Meriwether-Goldfield Endowed Scholarship to support Explorers. Scholarship preference is given to first-generation students. Kathy’s gift went directly toward the Known For Supporting Students initiative.

The Meriwether sisters can attest to the transformative education they received at La Salle.

Kathy studied economics while Ellen studied political science. Both were part of the Honors Program. While only a handful of their courses were together, the Meriwethers both gained firsthand experience of a rigorous liberal arts education.

“The classes were small and the professors were really eye-opening,” said Ellen.

“Top-notch,” Kathy added.  

They each remember impactful professors who were hands-on, engaging, and expanded their worldview through their teachings.

Following their respective graduations, each sister took a year off and used the time to work and gain real-world experience. These separate journeys, coincidentally, led them both to law school—Kathy to Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Ellen to The George Washington University Law School.

Their individual journeys as attorneys have led to two successful careers.

Kathy spent a lengthy portion of her career working as in-house counsel for a large global pharmaceutical company. She ended up leaving after about 16 years, joining the United States Attorney’s Office to focus on healthcare fraud litigation.

“That was not an easy move to make, with three young children at home, but I think I had enough of a foundation where I thought it was worth taking the risk to work in an area that had always interested me,” she said.

She got the chance to experience running large investigations, jury trials, federal arbitration, Third Circuit court arguments, and many other things lawyers don’t always get to experience.

That insight helped her when she moved onto become a partner at Ernst & Young in the firm’s investigations practice. She had the opportunity to be a leader on the life sciences investigations team, handling large projects by helping companies navigate government investigations, internal investigations, or setting up their compliance programs.

This period of her career allowed her to work with a large team and act as a mentor to up-and-coming younger professionals, helping several to become partners in the practice.

“I think developing people was part of the manager role there that I found the most rewarding in a way because it’s a very, very tough job, and you have to make time for that,” she said.

While Kathy’s career saw a lot of different sides of law, Ellen dug into class actions, first on the defense side and then on the plaintiff’s side. Working as a partner at Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel, she concentrated on antitrust litigation. In addition to litigating multi-million-dollar antitrust cases, Ellen built her reputation as an expert in the field by presenting on panels and publishing articles in the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Magazine, where she was on the Editorial Board for over ten years.  On account of Ellen’s litigation successes and academic work, she was inducted into the American Antitrust Institute’s Private Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2021.

“I am proud of my ability to achieve recognition and in a field that is considered especially complicated,” Ellen said.

Throughout their expansive careers, Kathy and Ellen consistently return to the people they are most grateful for: their support systems. That’s an integral part of why they both felt it was so important to give back to help the next generation.

They both found community at La Salle while expanding their worldview on the people and places around them. They hope that through their support of incoming Explorers, especially first-generation students, they can make a difference in others’ lives as well.

“I think you should have gratitude, and when someone or an institution helps you, you should try to pay it back,” Kathy said.

“I’m in a position right now where I can contribute to someone else’s tuition, just as La Salle helped me with mine.  I’m happy to do it because La Salle is a really worthy place,” Ellen added.

But one other big moment in their La Salle story? Watching a Villanova versus La Salle basketball game from the La Salle John E. Glaser Suite. With their families being Villanova season ticket holders, it was fun to support both teams while surrounded by their fellow Explorers.

“We’ve never been invited to the Villanova box,” Kathy added, jokingly.

— Meg Ryan, M.A. ’24