HARRISBURG (Oct. 27, 2017) — Philadelphia lawyer Vincent F. Garrity Jr. is the recipient of the sixth annual W. Edward Sell Business Lawyer Award, which will be presented at the 2017 Business Law Institute in Philadelphia, Nov. 14-15. Garrity is being recognized for his extraordinary contributions to the practice of business law in Pennsylvania.
The late W. Edward Sell was a driving force behind the enactment of business corporation law in Pennsylvania. Sell served as chair of the Title 15 Task Force of the PBA Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section. From 1966 to 1977, Sell served as dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was later appointed Distinguished Service Professor of Law.
Presented by the PBA Business Law Section, the Sell Business Lawyer Award honors the contributions to the practice of business law at the highest level, either through the practice of law or through teaching. Recipients must have contributed to the statutory development of business law in Pennsylvania and to the PBA by working in leadership roles in the Business Law Section.
Garrity spent the entirety of his career at Duane Morris practicing in the areas of business law, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. After becoming a partner at the firm in 1970, he went on to serve as co-chairman of its Corporate Section, a member of its Partners Board and director of the firm’s professional standards.
An active member of the legal community, Garrity is a former chair of the PBA Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section and a former co-chair of its Title 15 Business Associations Committee, which prepared and regularly updated the 1988 Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law, as well as Pennsylvania laws governing other forms of business associations.
As a member of the Committee on Corporate Laws of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, Garrity participated in the preparation of the Revised Model Business Corporation Act. He is also a past chair of the section’s Committee on Negotiated Acquisitions, past chair of the committee's Acquisition Review Subcommittee and was co-chair of the committee's Task Force which prepared the 2005 ABA publication, The M&A Process; A Practical Guide for the Business Lawyer. He is also a member of The American Law Institute.
Garrity was a frequent speaker on business acquisitions, takeovers and corporate governance matters and taught as an adjunct professor or lecturer at several law schools, including Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, University of Virginia and Eotvos Lorand University Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary.
Garrity is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the College of the Holy Cross.
The PBA Business Law Section consists of approximately 1,100 licensed Pennsylvania lawyers supporting the advancement of business practice through practical legal education, legislative drafting, and communication and networking within the bar.
Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 26,000 lawyers who are members of the association.