Superior Court of Pennsylvania Special Session, 10/17

Thursday, October 17

9:30 a.m.—3:30 p.m.

 Martin G. McGuinn '67 Ceremonial Courtroom (Room 201)

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania will hold a Special Session at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law on Thursday, October 17. The court will hear oral arguments in the Martin G. McGuinn '67 Ceremonial Courtroom (Room 201) in the morning and afternoon, and will be simulcast in the Arthur M. Goldberg '66 Commons.

Serving on this special session will be The Honorable John T. Bender, The Honorable Alice Beck Dubow and The Honorable James Gardner Colins '71.

The entire community is invited to attend this event. Summaries of the cases to be argued will be provided outside of the courtroom.

The Superior Court was created in 1895 to assist the state Supreme Court in disposing of a burgeoning number of appeals in the growing Commonwealth. The Court exercises general jurisdiction, statewide, over all appeals from decisions of the state trial courts with the exception of death penalty appeals (heard by the Supreme Court) and cases brought against the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions such as school districts and municipalities (heard by Commonwealth Court). 

The Court typically hears arguments on appeal in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, but occasionally visits other locations around Pennsylvania for special sessions. As one of the busiest appellate courts in the nations, the Court decides more than 8,000 individual appeals involving civil, criminal, domestic relations, and orphans’ court claims annually.