UF Law Grad Wins $65K Argument

The Gainesville Sun July 21, 2017 Unique Visitors Per Month: 442,789

UF Law Grad Wins $65K Argument

A University of Florida law graduate took home $65,000 in a competition Thursday.

Steven Hermosa delivered a first-place argument to a mock-Supreme Court panel in the Philip Shawe Scholarship Competition in New York’s historic Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The challenge that asked second- and third-year law students to defend Shawe and his right to hold shares in TransPerfect, the translation service he co-founded, after the Delaware Supreme Court decided to sell the company following infighting between Shawe and co-founder Elizabeth Etlilng.

One of three finalists who presented arguments to judges, including courtroom personality Alan Dershowitz, Hermosa argued that the Delaware court’s decision was unconstitutional, as law requires a “public purpose” for government to seize property — or in this case, a company.

Less than a day later, he hasn’t had time to process his win, he said.

“I’m a little in shock, to be honest,” he said. “It’s surreal.”

Once he completes the bar exam Tuesday, he can enjoy his victory. For now, though, he’s focused on studying.

While he’ll use most of his winnings to pay off student loans and bills, Hermosa said a “tiny, tiny chunk” of the prize money will go toward a weeklong getaway with his wife before he begins work in Orlando.

Phil Shawe, challenge sponsor and co-founder of TransPerfect, said while $115,000 is “nothing to sneeze at,” he wanted to draw the best of law’s emerging leaders.

“We just wanted the best minds on it, and there’s so much at stake in this case,” he said.

Judges were deadlocked in deciding the second- and third-place winners, so they awarded two $25,000 prizes to the runners-up, he said.

Dershowitz delivered a keynote speech following the competition, and Snoop Dogg and 80′s cover band Tainted Love performed for finalists and guests, including New York Giants players Jason Pierre-Paul and Brad Wing, he said.

While he hopes to resolve the case in state court, Shawe said he’s willing to take his case to the Supreme Court to protect his shares in the company.

“We’re not going to stop fighting,” he said. “There’s a long baseball game, and I think we’re in the early innings.”