A Who’s Who of the Legal World

Speaker series highlights academic year -By Anne Bergman The list of Justice Lester W. Roth lecturers reads like a “Who’s Who” of illustrious judges and lawyers, including: Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia, as well as Senator Evan Bayh and Governor George Pataki.

Chief Justice Leo Strine of the Delaware Supreme Court was the latest in a long line of illustrious speakers at USC Gould's Justice Lester W. Roth lecture series.

Since 1979, USC Gould has hosted the Roth lecture series, bringing legal luminaries to campus to meet with members of the Gould community and deliver a scholarly speech based on their field of expertise. “The Roth lecture is the highlight of the year,” said Dean Andrew Guzman on Nov. 5 as he introduced the 33^rd Roth lecturer, Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court Leo E. Strine to a classroom full of Gould students, alumni, faculty and staff. The Wall Street Journal has called Justice Strine one of “corporate law’s biggest personalities” and Strine delivered a colorful, yet academic, lecture on the differences between corporate laws in the E.U. versus the U.S., comparing their impact on shareholders.  A longer version of the Strine’s lecture will be published in the September 2016 issue of USC Gould’s Southern California Law Review. As Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, Strine is the final arbiter of many corporate disputes, as the state is the legal home of more than half of all U.S.-listed companies. Prior to becoming Chief Justice, Strine served on the Delaware Court of Chancery, where he wrote numerous opinions, particularly in the area of corporate law.

Dean Andrew Guzman, left, and his predecessor Robert Rasmussen, right, welcomed Chief Justice Strine to USC Gould. Guzman said he "has left an indelible mark on corporate law."

“Justice Strine has left an indelible mark on corporate law, refining the roles of investment bankers as well as shareholders,” Guzman said in his introduction. “It’s fair to say that there’s no one today who’s had a larger role in shaping and articulating corporate law in this country than Chief Justice Strine.” During his visit to the law school, Strine also spent time with students in Professor Donald Scotten’s “Business Organizations” class. Scotten said that Strine addressed the students as if they were colleagues facing the same challenges, sharing insights into corporate law. “He lives and breathes corporate law and approaches it in a scholarly and academic way,” Scotten said. “Yet he’s also making law and he cares deeply about it.” Scotten recalled that in 2011, Strine’s predecessor on the Delaware Supreme Court, then-Chief Justice Myron Steele also visited Scotten’s class and shared insights into corporate governance. “It’s great for Gould that we get judges of this caliber into our classrooms,” he said. The Justice Lester W. Roth lecture series is made possible by a gift from the Louis and Florence Cohen Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. The Honorable Lester W. Roth ’16 served as Justice of the California Court of Appeal Second Appellate District 1964-1992.