Charity gala raises $115,000 for law school students

July 25, 2017 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Philip R. Shawe (center), is pictured with New York Giants Bradley Wing (left) and Jason Pierre-Paul (right) during the Phil Shawe Charity Gala, which gave out $115,000 worth of scholarships to three law school students. Photos courtesy of the Phil Shawe Summer Charity Gala

Share this:

As two CEOs battle over control of TransPerfect, a company that provides translation and discovery services to legal and healthcare companies, one of the CEOs stepped up to give out $115,000 in scholarships to law school students as he tries to find creative solutions to his legal issues.

TransPerfect CEOs Philip R. Shawe and Elizabeth Elting have been battling for control of the company since 2014. In August 2015, a Delaware court ordered a third-party to sell off the shares in the company in a public auction. Shawe plans to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That led Shawe to hold a contest to see if law school students could come up with a creative legal argument to fight back against the ruling during a potential U.S. Supreme Court case. The Phil Shawe Summer Charity Gala was held last Thursday at 1 Hotel in Brooklyn, where the three finalists competed.

Alan Dershowitz served as an attorney on the case, one of the judges in the competition and as the gala’s keynote speaker. During his speech, he said that the TransPerfect case foreshadowed the beginning of the end for Delaware’s status as the “incorporation capital of the U.S.” and referred to Chief Justice Leo Strine, the judge handling the case, as a “judicial tyrant.”

Shawe, who donated $50,000 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research during the gala, made a public offer to Elting during the event, saying that if she set a price for the shares of the company, he would agree to either sell his shares to her at that price or buy her out. Elting controls 50 percent of the company and Shawe controls 49 percent.

The gala also honored property rights advocate Suzette Kelo.

Other judges in the competition included Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, Justice Melvin Schweitzer and Joseph D. Hansen.

Steven Hermosa, of the University of Florida, was the winner of the competition and received a $65,000 scholarship. Alison Tilden, of Yale University, and Catherine Dowie, of Suffolk University Law School, were both tied for second place. Each received $25,000.

The gala also raised money for charities including Resilience Rising, Ali Forney and the Key West Film Festival.

Members of the New York Giants, Bradley Wing and Jason Pierre-Paul were on hand to support the gala. Snoop Dogg made a surprise appearance and closed out the gala with a performance.