ORLA POWDERLY • Disability Benefits Attorney
Contact Information
orla@jandils.com
1.877.VETERAN (877.838.3726)
Professional Background
Education: Duquesne University (B.A., 2006), Duquesne University School of Law (J.D., 2009)
Member: West Virginia Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, American Bar Association
Profile
Orla Powderly grew up watching her father and uncle serve as physicians for miners and factory workers around the Parkersburg area. In a way, she followed in their footsteps.
“I’m afraid of needles, so I would have been a horrible doctor,” says Orla, who serves as a disability benefits attorney at the Jan Dils Law Firm, “but I thought I could serve the same people as a lawyer.”
Orla took an accelerated path to becoming a lawyer. At Duquesne University, she studied in a program that allowed her to earn both her undergraduate and law degrees within six years.
After earning her law license, she worked at a Pittsburgh law firm, where she represented union workers who were fighting to get their jobs back under collective bargaining agreements. That background has allowed her to easily transition to Social Security disability law as a member of the Dils team.
“In both employment and Social Security law, you are representing people who would be left helpless if they didn’t have any recourse through the legal system,” Orla says. “They have nowhere else to go. They need someone who knows the law and will fight for them.”
On a daily basis, Orla meets with clients who are seeking Social Security disability or supplemental security income benefits. She reviews their medical records and advocates for them at hearings before administrative law judges.
“I come from a family of doctors, pharmacists and dentists, and when I was in high school, I worked in my dad’s office,” she says. “So, the medical aspects of my work don’t bother me at all. I feel very comfortable with the terminology.”
Powderly, who ran a half-marathon in Pittsburgh, enjoys running when she isn’t practicing law as well as spending time with her family and her Boston terrier.
