Potter Anderson and Widener University Delaware Law School Welcome Liberian Legal Contingent
Wilmington, DE. High-ranking members of the bench and bar from the African nation of Liberia are visiting the First State this week to learn about the legal and business climate from some of the state’s leading legal and academic minds.
The educational experience presented by Widener University Delaware Law School and Wilmington law firm Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP will bring members of the Supreme Court of Liberia to Delaware, along with a trial judge and the nation’s solicitor general. Liberia’s ambassadors to the United States and to the European Union will also take part.
The four-day experience is intended to foster discussion on topics that include an introduction to Delaware’s legal system, the role of an independent judiciary, the Delaware legislative process, litigation and trial practice in state and federal courts and the judiciary’s role in facilitating foreign investment.
Liberia is home to more than 4 million people. It is located on the West African Coast, bordered by Guinea, Sierra Leone and The Ivory Coast. It is Africa’s oldest Democratic Republic.
The delegates will hear from distinguished Delaware Law corporate and business law faculty, and renowned attorneys from Potter Anderson, Duane Morris LLP and Jones Day. Program speakers include Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn and former Chief Justice Myron T. Steele, as well as representatives from the Delaware Secretary of State, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and many more.
The program opens Monday, Aug. 24 at the law school, with a luncheon followed by afternoon programs on judicial independence and the Delaware and federal Constitution taught by Delaware Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland and Judge Kent A. Jordan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The program will move to Potter Anderson’s offices at Hercules Plaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 25 and 26, where Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business Law Lawrence A. Hamermesh will team up with Potter Anderson partner Matt O’Toole for a talk on the Delaware legislative process and drafting Delaware’s business statutes. Associate Professor Paul Regan will then join firm partner Peter J. Walsh and Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III to discuss litigation and trial tactics in Delaware corporate litigation.
Other highlights include presentations from Lawyers Without Borders and a program on Delaware bankruptcy practice, and a panel addressing the rule of law’s impact on facilitating foreign investment and economic development in Africa.
Resident Judge Richard R. Cooch will welcome the delegation to the New Castle County Courthouse on the program’s final day, Thursday, Aug. 27 at 9 a.m. There, the group will hear about complex commercial litigation, criminal and jury trials.
“We are delighted to partner with Potter Anderson on this program. We are confident the Liberian delegation will gain a greater understanding of U.S. and Delaware legal systems through this visit and we, in turn, will learn about their experiences, traditions, challenges and aspirations,” said Delaware Law Dean Rod Smolla.
“The delegates will benefit from participating in this comprehensive program, which we are uniquely positioned to offer as legal professionals practicing in the nation’s corporate law capital,” added Potter Anderson Associate Ryan C. Cicoski, who has coordinated the event for the firm.
Delaware Law and Potter Anderson are grateful to the following for additional sponsorship that has helped make this program possible:
The Ruby R. Vale Foundation
State of Delaware, Secretary of State Office
Superior Court of Delaware
Lawyers Without Borders
Duane Morris
Thomson Reuters