<p>Recently the Widener Law Journal held the annual Law Journal Symposium, <em>Ruling the Courts: The Future of Local Rules of Civil Procedure in Pennsylvania</em>. Each year, the Widener Law Journal chooses a timely topic for discussion at the Symposium, which serves as an opportunity for students to learn about real-world issues in the legal profession.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The program sought to bring stakeholders together to understand the history of the local county rules, their current role in Pennsylvania&rsquo;s unified judicial system, and to question whether local rules should remain a prominent feature,&rdquo; said Prof. Tonya Evans, who served as a faculty advisor for the Symposium.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The all-day event featured a panel of legal academics, practitioners and government attorneys.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Symposium provides legal professionals the opportunity to raise awareness about the chosen issue and hopefully, find a path for change, &ldquo;said Editor-in-Chief of the Widener Law Journal, Bridget Hendrick.</p>
<p>The event also offers many benefits to students, including the opportunity to learn more about timely legal issues and the chance to network with practitioners and judges from different areas of the state.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Widener Law Journal strives each year to choose a Symposium topic that is timely and contentious,&rdquo; said Hendrick. &ldquo;The Symposium provides an educational forum for students to become aware of current "real world" legal issues, and proposed solutions.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Prof. Jill Family, Director of the Law and Government Institute, added that one of the main take away messages this year was that procedure is important and fair procedure matter.</p>
<p>"The symposium highlighted an important message:&nbsp; that the transparency of rules is essential.&nbsp; If the rules are unknown or not known to all, the game is not fair," said Prof. Family</p>