Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Historical Commission
Est. 2023
The Justices
The justices of the court have also served as Governors, Speakers, legislative leaders, Congressmen, and even a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Learn more about the individual justices who has served.
Chief Justice David Lloyd served on the Provincial Court and as the Speaker in the Assembly. He was instrumental in creating an independent Supreme Court in 1722.
The Litigants
Fifty thousand attorneys practice law in the Commonwealth as well as thousands of citizens representing themselves, pro se. Learn more about the attorneys and citizens that have shaped Pennsylvania's jurisprudence.
The Supreme Court sitting in Independence Hall, in 1961, administering the oath of office to allow attorneys to practice before the Court. (l to r) Justices Curtis Bok, Benjamin R. Jones, John C. Bell Jr., Chief Justice Charles A. Jones, Justices Michael A. Musmanno, Herbert B. Cohen, and Michael J. Eagan
The Staff
The Court decides three thousand appeals a year and has administrative authority over the entire Unified Judicial System. Learn more about staff that have helped create the judicial system that dispenses justice for all citizens of the Commonwealth.
The second-longest serving staff member in the Court's history. Patrick N. Bolsinger served in almost every available role with the Court, beginning in 1928 serving as a secretary to Justice John W. Kephart and later taking roles as crier, librarian, Supreme and Superior Court prothontary for the Western District, and finally ending his service as Prothonotary.