1881 Sharswood Law Club is formed to conduct Moot Courts as an exercise to learn courtroom skills. Students argue cases before a faculty member and an audience of student spectators. The George Biddle Memorial Library is established with an estate gift and a bequest of 5,087 volumes from the brother of Professor Algernon Sidney Biddle. The Biddle family makes continuous donations to the collection for years to come. Admissions standards are established.
Degree program expands to three years.
Professor Algernon S. Biddle introduces the case method at Penn Law. Aaron Albert Mossell is the first black man to graduate from Penn Law. 1891 Law Alumni Society is established. 1894 Biddle Professorship is the first endowed chair established at Penn Law and the only one until 1930. 1895 G. S. Harrison is named interim Dean of Law School.