News & Events: Delaware Campus

Widener Law will open its doors Thursday, March 12 to students from 24 law schools around the country for a national interscholastic moot court competition.

The much-anticipated 21st annual Ruby R. Vale Interschool Corporate Moot Court Competition will run four days. As the state’s only law school, Widener is in a unique position to draw on the resources and experience of the distinguished Delaware corporate legal community. 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 Margaret Serrano.

The Distinguished Scholar Lecture is an integral part of the competition and the society is honored to have U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York as this year’s speaker. He will deliver a speech titled “Corporate Criminal Responsibility,” on Friday, March 13 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 Associate Professor Paul Regan. Regan authored this year’s competition problem. The problem involves the fiduciary responsibility of directors and corporate executives to oversee and monitor a company's operations to promote compliance with legal regulations that govern their businesses. It raises important issues of accountability for senior corporate officials when lower level managers break the law and cause a company to incur substantial fines or criminal penalties.

“The support from our local legal community makes this one of the best interschool competitions in the nation,” Serrano said. “Students who are accepted to compete bring with them an enthusiasm for corporate law and appellate advocacy, and Widener Law’s own students devote countless hours to ensuring that the needs of the competition are met. The reward is in the experience and we are honored to provide this competition in Mr. Vale’s memory.”

Everyone is welcome to hear Kaplan’s remarks on Friday, March 13 at 4 p.m. or watch the final round of competition on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. in the Ruby R. Vale Moot Courtroom.

The final competition round will be judged by Kaplan, Delaware Supreme Court Justices Jack B. Jacobs and Carolyn Berger, 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. He was a well-respected corporate practitioner and a prolific writer who penned law review articles, books about legal philosophy, justice and the foundations of society. He is best remembered for his multi-volume work, “Vale's Pennsylvania Digest.” Vale died in 1961. 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
• Capital University Law School
• Emory University School of Law
• Florida State University College of Law
• Franklin Pierce Law Center
• Loyola University Chicago School of Law
• Marquette University Law School
• Mississippi College School of Law
• Ohio State University - Michael E. Moritz College of Law
• Quinnipiac University School of Law
• Santa Clara University School of Law
• Seton Hall University School of Law
• Southwestern Law School
• Tulane University Law School
• University of Detroit Mercy Law School
• University of Miami School of Law
• University of Oregon School of Law
• University of Wisconsin Law School
• Wake Forest University School of Law
• Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University
• Washburn University School of Law
• Western State University College of Law
• William Mitchell College of Law