Welcome to the Expert Gallery Suite of Widener University Commonwealth Law School

Our History

Widener Law Commonwealth is proud to bear the name of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is symbolic and descriptive of the mission and the ties of the law school to the government of Pennsylvania. Beyond its meaning as a way to define political territory or a union of states, the word commonwealth has a much deeper connotation and meaning for the law school. Sir Thomas Smith in 1583 wrote that “a common wealth is called a society or common doing of a multitude of free men collected together and united by common accord and coveanauntes among themselves, for the conservation of themselves as well in peace as in warre.” In an exhaustive study of the word’s meaning, the Early Modern Research Group noted that it became an important concept “to mean a form of polity that enabled the pursuit of the common good and interest of the people.” Widener Law Commonwealth will continue to be a place where faculty, staff, alumni and students all join together for the common good of each other and for the common good of Pennsylvania and the United States. Widener Law Commonwealth has written a remarkable story of progress in Harrisburg, changing and growing to meet the needs of its students, the profession, and the Commonwealth.