Philip Shawe Welcomes Entries from 240 Law Students and Teams for the Philip Shawe Law School Scholarship Competition, Examining the TransPerfect Delaware Case at the U.S. Supreme Court

NEW YORK, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Philip R. Shawe, co-CEO of TransPerfect, the world's largest privately held provider of language and technology solutions, announced that 240 student teams from law schools around the United States have agreed to submit their best arguments as part of The Philip R. Shawe Scholarship Competition.  Shawe, on his own, launched the competition to award grants totaling $100,000 to law school students for preparing the most intriguing argument to the United States Supreme Court for reversing the affirmed decision of the TransPerfect case in the Delaware Chancery Court that seeks to force a sale of the highly profitable company and potentially risk the jobs of nearly 4000 employees.

In 2016, Delaware Chancellor Andre Bouchard decided for Elizabeth Elting, TransPerfect's co-CEO, and it was appealed in January 2017 to the Delaware Supreme Court.  The appeal affirmed Chancellor Bouchard with one justice of five dissenting.  Shawe intends to petition the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to reverse the decision.  The competition was established to help stir the minds of law students, by giving them a case that is simply mind blowing; never before has a successful company that is not under threat of default or bankruptcy, been forced up for sale, in opposition of a majority of its shareholders.

The competition is open to all second- and third-year law school students, and focuses on the TransPerfect case, (In re:  TransPerfect Global, Inc.," Civil Action No. 9700-CB and "Elizabeth Elting v. Philip R. Shawe, et al." Civil Action No. 10449-CB) in which the Delaware Chancery Court, to create a non-negotiated exit strategy for one of the company shareholders, has ordered the unconstitutional taking of property from the two other shareholders without due process.

Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, (Ret) Senior Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, Justice Melvin Schweitzer, (Ret) New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division, Professor Alan Dershowitz (also legal counsel to Shirley Shawe), and Joseph D. Hansen, former Director of Interns for Justice Schweitzer, New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division will be deciding the winners of the writing and oral competition (the "Panel").

Professor Dershowitz said, "We are happy to see the level of participation of law students from all over the country concerned with the important issues that this case raises.  We expect to see some persuasive arguments, and, by doing so, help to promote justice."

Contestants' briefs address the U.S. constitutional implications of the Delaware courts' powers to adopt a forced sale remedy when shareholders of a highly profitable privately-held corporation are deadlocked. Following the preparation of a Bench Memorandum by attorneys with Lateral Link Group, Inc. on the issues being put before the United States Supreme Court - due process and unconstitutional takings - the submitted briefs will be judged first by a group from Lateral Link to narrow the field. The top graded 25 briefs will then be ranked by the panel of distinguished judges with extensive experience in constitutional law and business/corporate law in the United States.

The judges will select the top three contestants who will also prepare their arguments as if they were going before the United States Supreme Court. The three contestants will present their oral arguments to the judges, and the scholarships will be given to the top three ranked oralists in the following amounts: First place will be awarded $65,000, second place $25,000, and third place $10,000.

A program is being planned for May 2017, where the contestants will offer the oral arguments, and an award ceremony and reception will follow.  The date and time will be announced shortly.

To enter, entrants only have a short time remaining, and must submit their briefs by 11;59PM on April 20, 2017. For full competition rules and to enter, students can visit philshawescholarship.com or lawschoolchallenge.com email [email protected].

NEWS PROVIDED BY: Philip Shawe 

SOURCE Philip Shawe

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