Tom Kline and the Advancement of Pa. Judicial Education
Duquesne School of Law announced plans to establish a Pennsylvania judicial education center that will coordinate with deans and law scholars at Pennsylvania’s nine law schools to provide an innovative, high-level curriculum of courses and seminars for the state’s more than 600 trial and appellate judges.
The Thomas R. Kline Center for Judicial Education will be housed at Duquesne University School of Law. It is expected that the Center will begin searching for an executive director immediately, with a goal of working with the Judicial Education Department of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to begin delivering courses in 2018.
In announcing the plans to develop the center, Duquesne University President Ken Gormley stated, “The creation of the Thomas R. Kline Center for Judicial Education, in partnership with the Pennsylvania courts, and in collaboration with other law schools, is the first of its kind in the nation. We expect it to become a national model for judicial education in a new era.”
President Gormley added, “We will draw on expertise not only from legal scholars, but also from experts in science, psychology, health sciences, ethics, and other areas necessary for sophisticated judicial decision-making, utilizing talent from universities across Pennsylvania. We are deeply appreciative to our alumnus Tom Kline, who has been committed throughout his career to the highest possible level of legal education in our commonwealth, and has stepped up to support his alma mater with this history-making gift to create the Center.”
The creation of the center was made possible by an individual gift by Duquesne Law alumnus Thomas R. Kline of Kline & Specter. His $7.5 million gift is the largest individual gift in the law school’s history.
“There could be no better place in America for this unique model for judicial education and research to be established than at Duquesne University School of Law, which has a historic commitment to public service and an unparalleled alumni list of distinguished trial and appellate judges who have served the commonwealth and the nation,” said Mr. Kline.
Watch the announcement from President Gormley
