1/15/2021

Prominent Philadelphia attorney and Widener University Delaware Law School alumnus Bernard W. Smalley Sr. has been unanimously elected to serve as the president of The Board of Directors of City Trusts, the agency that manages charitable trusts bequeathed to the city of Philadelphia. Smalley, who graduated from Widener University Delaware Law School in 1980 will be the first African American to lead the board in its entire 151-year history.

Bernard Smalley graduated from Temple University. He attended Widener University Delaware Law School at night while working as an administrator for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Following his graduation from law school, he clerked for Judge Stanley M. Greenberg before he began a career as a trial attorney working on behalf of clients who had suffered corporate or professional negligence. Apartner at the Anapol Schwartz law firm for nearly 30 years, Smalley became a partner at Raynes Lawn Hehmeyer in 2016. Smalley has been named a Pennsylvania Superlawyer on multiple occassions during his distinguished career. In addition to his inductions as a fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Smalley received the 2008 Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence. He is a past president of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and a member of the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia.

Read more about Smalley's election as president of The Board of Directors of City Trusts at the Philadelphia Tribune.

The entire Widener University Delaware Law School congratulates Bernard W. Smalley Sr. on his terrific accomplishment!