Former Parsippany Resident Holds High-Ranking Post for Pa. Governor

A  Parsippany native is making a name for herself in Pennsylvania politics.

Kathleen Duffy Bruder,  42, who graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in 1986 and most recently worked for the law firm Rhoads & Sinon, was named deputy chief of staff for Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett. She took office on January 18.

Bruder did not respond to two calls seeking comment, but in a statement Charles J. Ferry, chairman of the Harrisburg, Pa.-based law firm’s executive committee, said Bruder’s new job was “bittersweet” for the firm.

“We will miss Kathleen, obviously, as a partner and trusted colleague,” he said. “But we recognized months ago when Kathleen joined the Corbett campaign team that we were running the risk of losing her. We supported Kathleen and the campaign along the way. It is a great opportunity for Kathleen to tackle a new opportunity and new challenges.”

Bruder was a partner in Rhoads & Sinon’s Employment & Labor and Business Litigation practice groups. According to the firm, she represented various public and private sector management clients. She went to court representing corporations and public entities in both federal and state court.

In addition to her litigious work dealing with employment issues, Bruder also practiced and counseled in higher education law, the firm said.

Earlier in her career, Bruder worked as associate counsel for a national company where she dealt with in-house labor and matters pertaining to employment law. She also served as an in-house labor attorney and director of human resources for the city of Harrisburg and as Deputy City Solicitor for the city.

In her career, Bruder has advised many human resources workers on their daily affairs such as hiring and firing, as well as complying with municipal, state and federal laws in addition to labor and employment laws.

She passed the bar exam and is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She still has family in Parsippany.

Bruder earned a bachelor’s degree in economic finance from the University of Scranton and a Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School of Law.

She has been married for 13 years and has two daughters.

Bruder will serve as one of four deputy chiefs of staff in the Corbett administration. The others are Chris Abruzzo, 44, of Hershey, Luke Bernstein, 31, of Mechanicsburg, and Todd Shamash, 38, also of Mechanicsburg.

Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, beat incumbent Ed Rendell, who had served since 2003. Corbett served as Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 2004 through 2010, a position he also held from 1995 through 1997 after he was appointed by then-governor Tom Ridge to fill out the term of Attorney General Ernie Preate, who was indicted for mail fraud and went on to serve 16 months in a federal jail in Duluth, Minn.

In one of his most notable acts as attorney general, Corbett filed suit to have the federal health care law that passed in 2010 declared unconstitutional.