<img width="400" height="267" class="FloatRight" alt="jurdenDeITAP" src="/site/files/oldnewsfiles/jurdenDeITAP.jpg">On Wednesday, May 20th, the Honorable Jan R. Jurden of Delaware’s Superior Court spoke to students in the <a href="/Academics/Institutes/AdvocacyandTechnologyInstitute/CopyofIntensiveTrialAdvocacyProgramDelaware.aspx">Intensive Trial Advocacy Program</a> on the Delaware campus, delivering the Annual Distinguished Lecture on Trial Advocacy and Professionalism.<br><br>Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesDe/NivalaJohnF.aspx">John F. Nivala</a>, Director of Widener Law’s <a href="/Academics/Institutes/AdvocacyandTechnologyInstitute.aspx">Taishoff Advocacy, Technology &amp; Public Service Institute</a>, introduced Judge Jurden, saying, “We are really fortunate to have Judge Jan R. Jurden here to speak with us today.” Addressing a large audience of enthusiastic students in the Ruby R. Vale Moot Courtroom, she said, “It is so refreshing as a Judge to see advocates who are passionate about what they are doing.”<br><br>In her lecture, entitled “Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Trial Advocacy and Professionalism I Didn’t Learn In Law School (But Don’t Worry . . . I Didn’t Take Widener ITAP),” Judge Jurden stressed the importance of civility in the legal profession. “Humility and civility comes up time and time again,” she said. Discussing the fact that some of the students sitting in the audience might wind up on opposite sides of the same case, she stressed, “Just because you’re adversaries doesn’t mean that you have to be rude to each other.”<br><br>After the conclusion of her remarks, Judge Jurden took questions from the audience. When a student asked her what advice she might have to help them for their mock trials the next morning, she joked, “Don’t drink tonight.”<br><br>A Delaware native, Jan R. Jurden served in the United States Army before earning her B.A. from Muhlenberg College and her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law in 1988. After graduation, she joined the law firm of Young, Conaway, Stargatt &amp; Taylor as an associate with a focus on corporate, commercial, and personal injury litigation. In 1996, she became a partner, and in May of 2001, she was appointed to the Superior Court of Delaware. A member of the Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court, the American Bar Association, the Delaware State Bar Association, and the National Association of Women Judges, she has taught as an adjunct professor at Widener Law, the University of Delaware, and Wilmington College.<br>