The 15th Annual Brennan Lecture on State Courts and Social Justice
The Reach of State Corporate Law Beyond State Borders:
Reflections Upon Federalism
The Hon. Jack B. Jacobs, Supreme Court of Delaware
Thursday, February 26, 2009, 6:30 P.M.
Public Reception Immediately Following Lecture
Justice Jack B. Jacobs
Before his appointment as a Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court in 2003, Jack B. Jacobs had served as Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery since October 1985. From 1968 until his appointment as Vice Chancellor, Justice Jacobs practiced corporate law and business litigation in Wilmington, Delaware. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago (B.A., 1964, Phi Beta Kappa) and a law degree from Harvard University (LL.B., 1967).
In addition to his judicial activities, Justice Jacobs serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, Widener University School of Law, and Columbia University School of Law (beginning 2009). He is a member of the American Law Institute, where he serves as an Advisor to the Restatement (Third) of Restitution, and of the Delaware and American Bar Associations (where he served on the Committee on Corporate Laws of the ABA Business Law Section), and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Justice Jacobs has participated in academic symposia and continuing legal education programs related to corporate and securities law sponsored by various law schools and continuing legal education organizations, and has been a guest lecturer at several American and foreign law schools. Justice Jacobs was Morrison & Foerster Lecturer at Stanford Law School (February 2008); Regent's Lecturer in Residence at the UCLA School of Law (January 2005); Distinguished Jurist Lecturer at University of Pennsylvania Law School (March 2002); and Distinguished Visiting Jurist at the Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Program (2008).
Justice Jacobs has also been an invited guest speaker in various conferences, including those sponsored by the Asian Corporate Governance Association (Hong Kong, October 2003); the Korea Development Institute (Seoul, November 2004); the University of Tokyo (November 2005); the OECD (Stockholm, March 2006); the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Amsterdam, April 2006), and the Australian Law Council (Sydney, April 2008). He also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Columbia Law School Center on Corporate Governance, and as a member of the Planning Committee of the University of Chicago Corporate Law Institute and the Tulane Corporate Law Institute. Justice Jacobs has also authored and co-authored numerous law review articles addressing various aspects of corporation law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance.
Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Lecture Series
Few Americans have done as much to shape the constitutional order of vigorous civil liberties and respect for the rule of law as Justice William J. Brennan Jr. In his thirty-four years on the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Brennan sculpted a vast constitutional jurisprudence and elevated the judiciary’s role in enforcing America’s commitment to individual rights and justice.
When Justice Brennan was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1956, he had already distinguished himself both at the bar and as a New Jersey state judge, rising to the state’s Supreme Court. These professional experiences informed Justice Brennan’s keen appreciation of our federal system and his abiding vision of the independent responsibility of state courts to protect constitutional rights.
The Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, the Brennan Center for Justice, and New York University School of Law proudly host the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Lecture Series on State Courts and Social Justice. The Brennan Lectures provoke reflection upon and celebration of the state judiciary—the bedrock of justice under law in the United States.
Past Lecturers:
1995 Hon. Judith S. Kaye
Chief Judge, Court of Appeals of the State of New York
State Courts at the Dawn of a New Century: Common Law Courts Reading Statutes and Constitutions
1996 Hon. Stewart G. Pollock
Justice, Supreme Court of New Jersey
The Art of Judging
1997 Hon. Stanley Mosk
Justice, Supreme Court of California
States’ Rights--and Wrongs
1998 Hon. Ellen Ash Peters
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Connecticut
Capacity and Respect: A Perspective on the Historic Role of the State Courts in the Federal System
1999 Hon. George Bundy Smith
Judge, Court of Appeals of the State of New York
State Courts and Democracy: The Role of State Courts In the Battle for Inclusive Participation in the Electoral Process
2000 Hon. Shirley S. Abrahamson
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Wisconsin
The Ballot and the Bench
2001 Hon. Christine M. Durham
Justice, Supreme Court of Utah
The Judicial Branch in State Government: Parables of Law, Politics, and Power
2002 Hon. Thomas R. Phillips
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas
The Constitutional Right to a Remedy
2003 Hon. Jeffrey L. Amestoy
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Vermont
Uncommon Humanity: Reflections on Judging in a Post-Human Era
2004 Hon. Margaret H. Marshall
Chief Justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
“Wise Parents Do Not Hesitate to Learn From Their Children”: Interpreting State Constitutions in an Age of Global Jurisprudence
2005 Hon. Ronald M. George
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of California
Challenges Facing an Independent Judiciary
2006 Hon. Randall T. Shepard
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Indiana
The New Role of State Supreme Courts as Engines of Court Reform
2007 Hon. Leah Ward Sears
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia
A Case for Strengthening Marriage in the 21st Century
2008 Hon. Michael A. Wolff
Judge, Supreme Court of Missouri
Evidence-Based Judicial Discretion: Promoting Pubic Safety through State Sentencing Reform
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