Nathan Orians

Witnessing the abuse of children at a juvenile detention center convinced Nathan Orians to switch his career from social work to one in which he could help not only children but improve the system - the law.

The first-hand observation of child abuse by Orians, who also holds a master's degree in social work, while an employee at the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center convinced him to blow the whistle on what Fox News later called "shocking revelations" of what occurred at the facility.

The disclosure prompted an investigation into the detention center by the public defender and state legislators, with Fox News noting a judge subsequently ordered its closure. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro was investigating the matter further.

"The systemic abuses I witnessed and repeatedly attempted to stop forced me to reconsider my entire career path and go to law school," Orians said in an interview with Fox News about the detention center. "The people in charge purposely place children into a dangerous facility and they turned a blind eye or even covered up abuse that was ongoing for years."

Now, as an attorney, Orians concentrates in child sexual and physical abuse cases, while also handling catastrophic personal injury litigation. For two years prior, Orians worked as a law clerk at the firm, focusing primarily on sexual abuse, catastrophic injury, Title IX violations and medical malpractice cases.

In his tenure as a social worker, Orians held a number of positions, including as a clinical case manager at the juvenile detention center, counseling individuals, couples and families in therapy sessions at Bard College, performing psychodynamic/trauma assessments as a case manager intern, and wrote grants for programs helping at-risk youths stay in school at the R.E.A.L. Skills Network in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Orians earned his bachelor's degree at Vassar College and his master's degree at Smith College School for Social work.

He earned his law degree at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, where he graduated cum laude, was associate editor and a board member of the Law Review, was awarded best student honors for Trial Advocacy and in Depositions, won the American Law Institute CLE Scholarship & Leadership Award, and numerous other academic awards.

Orians was also awarded Pro Bono Honors at the law school, partly for his work helping expose the abuse at the juvenile detention center.