The Widener Law Journal in conjunction with the Widener Law &amp; Government Institute will host the symposium, “The Contribution of the Commonwealth Court to Pennsylvania Jurisprudence Since 1970,” at the school’s Harrisburg campus Feb. 17.The event will focus on several fields of administrative law impacted by the Commonwealth Court including Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law, prisoner litigation, public utility law, environmental law and zoning law. The full conference schedule is available as a PDF.Presenters will include local attorneys, local elected officials and:

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Thomas Saylor, who is jurist in residence at the law school
Commonwealth Court President Judge Bonnie Leadbetter
Commonwealth Court Judges Renee Cohn Jubelirer, Robin Simpson and Hannah Leavitt
Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Rochelle Friedman
Former Commonwealth Court President Judges James Gardner Colins and Ted Doyle
Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Gornish
Worker’s Compensation Judge David Torrey
Chief Counsel to the State Ethics Commission Robin Hittie
Widener Distinguished Professor and Environmental Law Center Director John C. Dernbach

Widener Professor and Law &amp; Government Institute Director John L. Gedid

Widener Professor G. Randall Lee


The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has the distinction of being the only state intermediate appellate court dedicated to public law. Since the Commonwealth Court was established in 1970, it has been instrumental in shaping modern administrative law in Pennsylvania. After 40 years, almost every area of state public law, from worker’s compensation to environmental and zoning law, has been substantially influenced by the Commonwealth Court.The symposium will begin with registration at 8:15 a.m. and sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in room A180 of the school administration building at 3800 Vartan Way, Harrisburg. Attorneys from Pennsylvania or Delaware who attend will be eligible for six continuing legal education credits, including one ethics credit.The registration fee for attorneys who attend for credit is $150 or $130 for Widener Law alumni and includes materials and lunch. It is free for students or members of the public who do not seek continuing education credits, without materials or lunch. To register, contact Sandra Graeff at 717.514.3965 or slgraeff@widener.edu. The Widener Law Journal is the flagship law journal of Widener’s Harrisburg campus. The Law &amp; Government Institute was founded in 1999 to improve government law and to enrich the Harrisburg-campus curriculum. It works to educate Widener students to serve the public interest as government lawyers and private practitioners. Because of the institute’s focus on government law it has been a close observer and commentator on the work of the Commonwealth Court.