Adrianna Alfano Cherkas
Of Counsel
Adrianna@MyKidsLawyer.com
Adrianna has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of children and students. She provides a voice for students, defending their legal rights within their school or the criminal justice system. She seeks to work collaboratively with students and their families, providing support and guidance during these challenging and emotional times. Adrianna has worked with students of all ages, including preschool, K-12, college, and graduate students, with varying mental and behavioral health needs, from diverse backgrounds, and prides herself in providing practical solutions based on each client’s individual needs and goals. Her passion for ensuring her clients feel heard and vindicated is the foundation of her practice.
Adrianna’s practice at Raffaele & Associates includes:
• Juvenile Justice
• K-12 School Discipline and Truancy
• Higher Education Discipline
• Civil Rights in Educational Settings (including Title IX)
• Testing Accommodations (including NBME and NBOME)
• Guardianship
• Adoption
Education
• J.D., New England Law | Boston
• B.S., Arizona State University, magna cum laude
Court Admissions
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of Massachusetts
• United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
• United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
Experience
Prior to joining Raffaele & Associates, Adrianna was a Supervising Attorney in the Child Advocacy Unit at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Adrianna worked in the Child Advocacy Unit for nearly ten years, where she represented and counseled children in all stages of dependency proceedings and in matters contemporaneous to their dependency such as adoption, education, truancy, school discipline, and delinquency. During her tenure, Adrianna represented thousands of children and spent extensive time in the courtroom advocating for her clients’ rights.
Before moving to Philadelphia and joining the Defender Association, Adrianna served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Justices of the Probate and Family Court in Massachusetts. During law school, she worked as an intern at Greater Boston Legal Services: Family Law Department, an advocate at the Domestic Violence Institute at Boston Medical Center, a legal research assistant, a staff attorney at the New England Law Clinical Law Office, and a note editor for the New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement.
Adrianna is a self-proclaimed “foodie” who enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. She lives in Montgomery County with her husband, Randy, and their two sons.
