The Business Law Section traces its origins to June 27, 1929 when the Committee on Corporation Law was formed. Former Pennsylvania attorney general, co-founder of the Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis law firm, and 1962 Pennsylvania Bar Association President William A. Schnader of Philadelphia served as the first chair of the original 15-member committee. Schnader, who also served as the President of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and a vice president of the American Law Institute, worked for many years to develop the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), and Pennsylvania was the first state to adopt the UCC as a result of his efforts in the enactment process.

In 1960, the Committee on Corporation Law became the PBA Section on Corporation, Banking and Business Law, and the PBA Board of Governors approved renaming it the PBA Business Law Section in May 2000. Today's Business Law Section continues the work started by William Schnader through its efforts in the enactment process for a variety of Pennsylvania business laws. The Section, through its various task forces, plays a critical role in the enactment process for bills affecting the commercial and business entity laws of the Commonwealth. All of this work fulfills the Section's charge as set forth in the PBA Bylaws, which is to "take as its province the development and practical working of the law of this Commonwealth and of the United States, relating to banks and banking, to other business and nonprofit corporations, partnerships and associations, to the law relating to mercantile and commercial transactions, including the fields of bankruptcy, insolvency and receiverships and of business regulation law."(PBA Bylaws, Article 6, Section 630).