Beulah I. Agbabiaka - Philadelphia, PA

Beulah is an attorney at McEldrew Purtell with a background in appellate advocacy, post-conviction litigation, criminal defense, civil rights, and public interest law. Her work is grounded in careful legal analysis, strong written advocacy, and a commitment to representing people whose lives have been shaped by injustice and institutional failure.

Before joining McEldrew Purtell, Beulah served as an appellate public defender with the Center for Appellate Litigation in New York, where she represented clients in appellate and criminal courts on misdemeanor and felony matters. She also represented clients in Sexual Offender Registration Act hearings and modification proceedings.

After relocating to Philadelphia, Beulah clerked for the Honorable Petrese B. Tucker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She then served as a Research and Writing Attorney with the Federal Community Defender’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where she worked on complex post-conviction and capital habeas matters in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Louisiana.

Beulah graduated from Columbia Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal of Race and Law. During law school, she built a broad foundation in public interest and civil rights advocacy through work with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Alliance of Families for Justice, and Zhicheng Public Interest Lawyers in Beijing.

Her work has been recognized through several honors, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Earl Warren Scholarship, Columbia Law School Oldhams Fellowship, John Paul Stevens Foundation Public Interest Fellowship, Leadership Institute of Women of Color Attorneys Scholarship, and the Parker School Certificate of Achievement in International and Comparative Law.

Beulah’s commitment to justice is personal. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, she was inspired by her mother’s work founding a charter school for at-risk and system-involved youth. Today, Beulah continues that commitment through advocacy, scholarship, and community involvement. Outside of work, she volunteers as an assistant coach for her mother’s Science Olympiad team, plays jazz bass and guitar, and enjoys visiting amusement parks.