Barbara Axelrod

Barbara R. Axelrod is an appellate attorney at The Beasley Firm. She worked for the City of Philadelphia's Law Department from 1977 to 1989, rising to Divisional Deputy Solicitor. She first came to Jim Beasley Sr.'s attention in 1989, when as an assistant city solicitor she wrote the brief that persuaded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to vacate a $3.8 million judgment Beasley had won in Scarborough v. Reading Railroad. That case involved a nine-year-old boy who lost both legs below the knee after slipping under a freight train, and Beasley had argued the city was negligent in failing to repair a hole in a fence near the tracks.

The railroad settled its portion for $1.3 million, but Axelrod argued on appeal that the city was not liable for negligence on adjoining property it did not own or control, and the Supreme Court agreed. Beasley then hired the lawyer who beat him to handle his appeals. She has served as chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Appellate Courts Committee and has participated in the Myrna Marshall Moot Court Competition.