InBrief

The New South Wales Bar Association is honoured to present a guest lecture by Justice Myron T Steele, the chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, on Thursday, 22 March 2007 at 4.30pm in the Bar Association Common Room.

Chief Justice Steele is present here in Australia for the Australian Legal Convention which commences in Sydney on Friday. His visit is very timely for members of the New South Wales Bar. Last month the United States Conference of Chief Justices resolved to urge improved access for Australian lawyers in the US. The resolution urges the Supreme Court of every US state and territory to consider permitting Australian university law graduates who have been admitted to practice here to sit US bar exams for admission to practise there without having to undertake further study.

Chief Justice Steele is able to tell us more about current developments in the United States to give greater access by Australian advocates to practise in US state courts.These developments follow lobbying by the Australian Government and the Law Council of Australia as part of an initiative under the Australian-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA).

Since 2000, Justice Steele has served on the Delaware Supreme Court, before his elevation to chief justice in 2004. Previously, he served as a vice chancellor of the highly respected and influential Delaware Court of Chancery from 1994 to 2000.

The fortunes of many large American corporations, not to mention the subsidiaries of some Australian companies, may be determined by judges in the state of Delaware, which is the leading venue for incorporation in the United States. More than half a million business entities have their legal home there, including more than 50 per cent of all US publicly-traded companies and 60 per cent of the Fortune 500. Many are drawn by the flexible regulatory system and the Delaware Court of Chancery, which is now pre-eminent in US corporate law.

In addition to his judicial activities, Chief Justice Steele is a member of the Corporate and Business Litigation Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and a member of the Judicial Section of the American Bar Association. He is a former deputy attorney general of Delaware and chairman of the Consumer Affairs Board. He has presided over major corporate litigation matters and writes frequently on issues of corporate document interpretation and corporate governance.

Please note early start time for this lecture -? 4.30pm

Michael Slattery QC

President

21 March 2007