
				Widener Law will welcome students from 23 law schools around the country for a national interscholastic moot court competition beginning Thursday, March 18.The much-anticipated 22nd annual Ruby R. Vale Interschool Corporate Moot Court Competition will run four days on the Delaware campus. Moot court competitions allow students to practice skills in a competitive setting that they may eventually use as attorneys making appellate arguments. Students also write briefs in advance of the competition on a topic supplied by the law school in the form of a legal problem.The competition introduces participants to the cutting edge of corporate law.  As Delaware’s only law school, Widener is in a unique position to draw on the resources and experience of the state’s distinguished 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 Robert Bailey Jr.The Distinguished Scholar Lecture is an integral part of the competition and the society is honored to have former Delaware Court of Chancery Chancellor William T. Allen as this year’s speaker.  He will deliver a speech on Friday, March 19 at 4 p.m. in the Ruby R. Vale Moot Courtroom in the main law building. Allen served on the court from 1985 to 1997. Today he directs the New York University Center for Law &amp; Business, a joint venture of the Leonard N. Stern School of Business and the NYU School of Law.The competition advisors include Widener Law Associate Professor Paul L. Regan, acting director of the law school’s Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law, and Professor Lawrence A. Hamermesh. Hamermesh authored this year’s competition problem. It poses two issues of Delaware corporate law governing the rights of stockholders to determine who serves on a board of directors.“The support from our local legal community and Widener Law professors makes this one of the best interschool competitions that any law school has to offer,” Bailey said. “Students who are accepted to compete bring with them an enthusiasm for both corporate law and appellate advocacy, and Widener Law’s own students devote countless hours to ensuring that every facet of the competition runs smoothly. The reward is in the experience and we are honored to provide this competition in Mr. Vale’s memory.”   The final competition round will be judged by Allen, Delaware Supreme Court Justices Jack B. Jacobs and Henry duPont Ridgely and Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellors Donald F. Parsons Jr. and J. Travis Laster. 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 LawBrooklyn Law SchoolCapital University Law SchoolChicago Kent College of LawFranklin Pierce Law CenterGeorgetown University School of LawLouisiana State University School of LawMarquette University Law SchoolMercer University, Walter F. George School of LawMississippi College School of LawNorth Carolina Central University of LawOhio State University - Michael E. Moritz College of LawSouthwestern University School of LawThe John Marshall Law SchoolThe University of Toledo College of LawTulane University Law SchoolUniversity of Florida Levin College of LawUniversity of Miami School of LawUniversity of Wisconsin Law SchoolVillanova University School of LawWestern State University College of LawWest Virginia University College of LawWilliam Mitchell College of Law		