News & Events: Delaware News

Widener moot court competition draws law students from Georgetown, Emory, Ohio State, 20 other schools

Public Relations - Published: March 10, 2008

Delaware’s only law school will open its doors Thursday, March 27 to students from 23 law schools around the country for a national interscholastic moot court competition.

The much-anticipated 20th annual Ruby R. Vale Interschool Corporate Moot Court Competition will run four days and introduce participants to the cutting edge of corporate law. The competition is hosted by Widener University School of Law’s Moot Court Honor Society under the direction of the Society’s executive board and competition chairperson Kara Donoghue.

The Distinguished Scholar Lecture is an integral part of the competition and the Society is honored to have Brian G. Cartwright, Esq., general counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission as this year’s speaker. He will deliver a speech titled “The role of the states – foreign and domestic,” on Friday, March 28 at 4 p.m. in the Ruby R. Vale Moot Courtroom in the main law building.

The competition advisors include Lawrence A. Hamermesh, the Ruby R. Vale professor of corporate and business law and director of the school’s Institute of Delaware Corporate & Business Law, and Widener Law Professor Paul Regan. Hamermesh authored this year’s competition problem. It involves an application by the S.E.C. to use a relatively new amendment to the Delaware Constitution, which permits the Delaware Supreme Court to answer questions of Delaware law certified to it by the S.E.C. The problem raises important corporate governance issues relating to the power of stockholders to limit a board's ability to adopt anti-takeover devices.

“The law school’s location in the corporate law capital uniquely positions Widener to host a first-class event. We have a sophisticated bench and bar who have a special closeness to the subject matter and have been generous in giving of their time and expertise to support this
competition,” Donoghue said. “I look forward to welcoming tomorrow’s corporate legal minds to our school.”

The final competition round will be judged by Mr. Cartwright, Delaware Supreme Court Justices Jack B. Jacobs and Henry duPont Ridgely, Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor Donald F. Parsons, Jr. and former Delaware Supreme Court Justice Joseph T. Walsh.

The competition is named for Ruby R. Vale, who lived in Milford, Del. and practiced law in Philadelphia. The law school is grateful to the Vale family and for the opportunities their generosity has made possible, such as this national competition. This year’s competition participants come from the following law schools:

American University Washington College of Law
Brooklyn Law School
College of William and Mary – Marshall Wythe School of Law
DePaul University College of Law
Emory University School of Law
Franklin Pierce Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Marquette University Law School
Mercer University – Walter F. George School of Law
Mississippi College School of Law
Ohio State University – Michael E. Moritz College of Law
Quinnipiac University School of Law
Southwestern University School of Law
Tulane University School of Law
University of Detriot Mercy School of Law
University of Maine School of Law
University of Miami School of Law
University of Oregon School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
University of Wisconsin Law School
Valparaiso University School of Law
Western State University College of Law
William Mitchell College of Law

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