Are you curious about the origins of our Lady Justice statue? Read on to learn her story.
sidebar SPRING 2025
Another New Face at the WBA: Who’s That Girl?
by Joyce Novotny-Prettiman, Esq.
A very fitting and appropriate greeter recently arrived at the WBA office, and her name is Lady Justice. The Lady appeared compliments of Dick Galloway and his family and we wanted to introduce her to you via the sidebar.
First some history. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that a king would not enter the afterlife unless the king passed the test which weighed his heart on one side of a scale and a “feather of truth” on the other. The feather originates from the Egyptian goddess, Ma’at (pronounced may-et) and is an early connection between justice and women dating back to 4000 BCE.1
Moving forward to approximately 700 BCE, the Greek goddess known as Themis was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia and was believed to generate divine law which taught justice and morality to humankind. Her name means “order,” “law,” or “custom.” She was seen as the goddess of wisdom and interpreted what the Greek gods expected of the humans.
In the Roman tradition, which stemmed from Greek customs, comes the goddess Justitia (or Iustitia)—again female. The story goes that Justitia had lived among humans but fled because she could not tolerate the immorality she witnessed.2 Our current images of Justice come from a combination of these ancient traditions.
The concept of a woman in a role representing justice is rather interesting given the historical tradition of patriarchal societies. We sometimes forget that until 1974, when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed, women in the United States did not have the legal right to credit in their own names and needed a male co-signer. In 1975, the U.S. Supreme Court held that states could not deny a woman the right to serve on a federal jury. Not exactly ancient history! In any event, the concept of justice involves exhibiting care, historically associated with women.
The images of justice are everywhere, if you take the time to look. She is at the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., and at countless courthouses across our nation and, in fact, across the world. She may even be on your desk or pictured somewhere in your office. Sometimes she is blindfolded to signify impartiality. Without a blindfold, Justice is keeping both eyes on the process to guard against errors. She usually is holding some type of scale, with the idea being the scale is an objective measure. Most of the time a sword is involved in the depiction as well. The sword is typically double-edged and indicates that some sort of force or may be required to be part of the image. The sword is seen as being able to both protect and punish.
Our resident Lady Justice comes to us from the Galloway family after being discovered by Reg Belden in San Francisco a number of years ago. Reg bought it and shipped it back to Greensburg, where it stood in the offices of Belden Law on Main Street in Greensburg. A few years after Reg passed away, Dick Galloway purchased the statue to grace the entryway of Galloway Monzo on Summit Drive in Greensburg. When Dick and Jeff Monzo joined the Quatrini Law Group in 2019, Lady Justice also made the move, and was placed on the landing of one of the grand stairways in their building on East Pittsburgh Street.
In early 2025, Lady Justice found a new home at the WBA building on North Maple Avenue where she now stands proudly in the entryway and is visible to the passing public. The beauty and symbolism of Lady Justice demonstrates the majesty, strength, and blindness to bias that the law and its practitioners revere and aspire to follow.
We are all the beneficiaries of this lovely permanent addition to our headquarters. We owe Lady Justice a little more than just a passing glance. We also owe a sincere thank you to the Galloway family. ❂
1 “Lady Justice,” Reference No. 4. Wikipedia, March 25, 2019.
2 Wood, Mia. “Who Is Lady Justice and How Did She Come to Be? - Articles by MagellanTV.” www.magellantv.com, September 18, 2022.
The Origins of Our Resident Lady Justice
by Richard H. Galloway, Esq.
A number of years ago, Reg Belden went to San Francisco for a Bar function. While there, he came across the statue of Lady Justice. In no time, he had bought it and shipped it back to Greensburg, all at significant expense. It stood in the offices of Belden Law on Main Street in Greensburg for a number of years.
In 2008, I, along with my daughter Lisa Galloway Monzo, and son-in-law Jeffrey Monzo, formed the law firm of Galloway Monzo, with my wife Janice Galloway as the medical coordinator for the medical records and their interpretation in that practice.
Because Lisa and Jeff had been associated with Belden Law, and I had been a close friend of Reg’s, we named our conference room “The Belden Room,” complete with a picture of Reg with the inscription, “Friend and Mentor.”
Someone remembered the Lady Justice statue and calls were made, and the statue was purchased. It then graced the entryway of Galloway Monzo for the next decade, until 2019, when Jeff and I joined the Quatrini Law Group where Lady Justice was placed on the landing of one of the grand stairways in that lovely building.
For some time, there had been discussion about donating it to the Westmoreland Bar Foundation and we three lawyers, along with long-time Foundation Board member, Janice, decided that it should have a permanent home at the Westmoreland Bar Association/Foundation headquarters at 100 North Maple Avenue in Greensburg.
The logistics of having it professionally moved delayed the process for awhile, but in early 2025 it was moved to the Bar Association building where it now stands proudly in the entryway and is visible to the passing public. Its beauty and symbolism demonstrate to those who see it the majesty, strength, and blindness to bias that the law and its practitioners revere and aspire to follow. ❂
Links and attributions for most photos in this article can be found on https://commons.wikimedia.org.
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