Judge Royce L. Morris of the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas is the current Widener Law Commonwealth Jurist in Residence. Judge Morris will teach a Government Law Colloquium, present a public lecture, and serve as a resource for students.

After more than 25 years of distinguished service as an attorney and civic service to his community, Royce Morris was elected to serve as a Judge on the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas in 2018.

He began working for the Dauphin County Public Defender’s office in 1991 and served as Chief Deputy in that office from 1996-1999. In 1999, Judge Morris joined the law firm of Goldberg Katzman and was elevated to Partner in 2002. Throughout his legal career, Judge Morris represented individuals and corporations in criminal matters, and municipalities as solicitor and general counsel, often litigating complex and politically sensitive matters on behalf of those clients in county, state and federal courts.

Judge Morris has provided numerous Continuing Legal Education Seminars for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, having previously served that organization as president, vice president and treasurer. He was an adjunct professor at Harrisburg Area Community College teaching criminal law and criminal evidence for more than ten years. Judge Morris received a gubernatorial appointment to serve on the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and served on the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Task Force on the Code of Judicial Conduct. Judge Morris serves on the House of Delegates for the Pennsylvania Bar Association and is the former chair of the Equal Professional Opportunity Committee for the Dauphin County Bar Association and the Capital Area Managing Partners Diversity Initiative. Named by Philadelphia Magazine as a “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” from 2008-2017, he rated at the highest level of professional excellence, AV preeminent, by his peers at Martindale Hubbell.

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