Page 7 - Delaware Lawyer - Summer 2023

The Hon. Jan R. Jurden, a Delaware native, was appointed to the Superior Court of Dela- ware in May 2001 and elevated to President Judge of the Superior Court on January 13, 2015. After serving three years in the United
States Army overseas, Judge Jurden received her B.A. summa
cum laude from Muhlenberg College in 1985 and her J.D. from Dickinson in 1988. Judge Jurden served on the Superior Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Panel, launched and presided over the Superior Court Mental Health Court, oversaw the Con- flict Attorney Program, served as Criminal Administrative Judge, and presided over the Veterans’ Treatment Court. Prior to joining the Court, she practiced law with the law firm of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP from 1988 to May 2001, concentrating on corporate, commercial and personal injury litigation.
Jenifer Jurden is a corporate veteran, cartoon- ist, and creator of the cool little cartoon alien Jurdy®. Jurden brings levity to everyday human life through her witty Jurdy cartoons that mimic our earthly frustrations and foibles. If you need
comic relief, Jurdy can be found on Facebook and Instagram as well as at www.jurdy.com.
Benjamin M. Potts is an associate in the Wilmington office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He formerly worked as an associate in the corporate counseling and litigation depart- ment of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP
and clerked for Justice Carolyn Berger on the Delaware Supreme Court. He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Emory Uni- versity in 2010 and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2013.
The Hon. Andrea L. Rocanelli (Ret.) relies on more than 30 years of legal and judicial experi- ence to encourage principled negotiation. Judge Rocanelli served as a Judge on the Superior Court of Delaware from 2013–2021 and a Judge on the
Delaware Court of Common Pleas from 2009–2013. Prior to tak- ing the bench, Judge Rocanelli was the Chief Disciplinary Counsel of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Judge Rocanelli retired from Delaware’s Superior Court and founded Delaware ADR, LLC, which offers efficient, effective and durable resolution of complex commercial and corporate disputes. Judge Rocanelli has received dispute resolution training at Pepperdine University’s Straus Insti- tute for Dispute Resolution and Harvard Law School’s Negotia- tion Workshop, as well as Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Judge Rocanelli is certified in Delaware as a Commercial Law Arbitrator. She approaches mediation and arbitration with the same intensity and preparation she brought to disputes in the courtroom, with a strong working knowledge of the record and a solid command of
| CONTRIBUTORS | controlling law. Judge Rocanelli limits her work to that of a Profes-
sional Neutral and does not act in a representative capacity.
The Hon. Joseph R. Slights III (Ret.), a former Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chan- cery, is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s litigation department, where his practice focuses on corporate governance counseling and
litigation. He regularly serves as a mediator and arbitrator in high- stakes disputes. He served as a Vice Chancellor on the Delaware Court of Chancery from 2016–2022, and as a Judge on the Supe- rior Court of Delaware from 2000–2012. While serving as a Judge on the Superior Court of Delaware, he was instrumental in forming the court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division. Slights was a partner in the business and corporate litigation department of Mor- ris James LLP from 2012–2016. Previously, he was a trial lawyer in the firm Sidney Balick PC (now Balick & Balick) and a corporate litigator in the firm Richards, Layton & Finger PC. Slights has been an adjunct professor at Widener University School of Law, and currently is on the adjunct faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Law and Washington & Lee University School of Law. He has served as a delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Court Judges, and a liaison between the Judicial Division and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Kali E. Swoyer is the Staff Attorney at Dela- ware ADR, LLC. Swoyer’s training and legal expertise are valuable assets to the attorneys and business professionals who retain Delaware ADR. At Delaware ADR, Swoyer’s experience
with strategy decisions and liability analysis is utilized to deliver the highest-quality services in the most cost-effective manner. Swoyer attended the University of Delaware and Delaware Law School. Upon graduation from law school with Certificates
in Business Organizations and Pro Bono Distinction, Swoyer served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Calvin L. Scott, Jr. of the Delaware Superior Court. In private practice, she devel- oped excellent legal skills through extensive deposition practice and robust dispositive motion practice. Swoyer’s case manage- ment responsibilities included strategy decisions and liability analysis for efficient resolution of disputes prior to trial.
Richard R. Wier, Jr. is a lifelong Delawarean. He graduated from Wilmington Friends School, Hamilton College and the University of Penn- sylvania Law School. Shortly after being admit- ted to the Delaware Bar, he joined the Delaware
Attorney General’s Office and prosecuted many of the most famous criminal cases in Delaware as a Deputy Attorney General and then as state prosecutor in charge of the office’s statewide criminal divi- sion. He was then elected Delaware Attorney General in 1974 at the age of 33. He is the author of They Had to Die That Night: The Inside Story of The Investigation and Trial of Herbert F. Steigler.
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