NEW YORK, June 1, 2004 – LAWFUEL – Kenneth H. C. Willig, chair of the Project Finance practice group of Piper Rudnick LLP, and his wife Rosette Willig have established the Rosette & Kenneth Willig Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Piper Rudnick has announced.
The fund will endow scholarships for students entering Penn’s law school. It will be awarded on a needs basis to defray tuition costs for deserving students and will be avaialble for all three years of law studies.
“Both of us have benefited greatly from our affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania and we wanted to make a meaningful contribution to the growth of the University community,” Mr. Willig explained.
“We have previously funded smaller gifts to the undergraduate school, but recognized the growing need for private financial aid at its Law School.”
“The Willigs’ generosity and their determination to give more students greater access to the legal profession are inspiring,” said Jeffrey F. Liss, chief operating officer of Piper Rudnick. “That giving spirit is part of the culture of Piper Rudnick.”
The Rosette & Kenneth Willig Endowed Scholarship Fund will be administered entirely by the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Mr. Willig practices in the field of international and structured and project finance. He has substantial experience in secured lending transactions, mergers and acquisitions, international comparative law, and leveraged leasing and has represented U.S. and foreign financial institutions providing non- and limited recourse financing under various structures to projects around the world. He also has significant experience advising in the acquisition or sale of equity interests and the placement of debt and has acted as a government advisor with respect to various privatization programs.
He received his M.A., Ph.D., and J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Willig practiced securities law for more than a decade and now devotes her time to her family and to linguistic studies. She began her legal studies at the University of Pennsylvania, then completed her J.D. at Columbia.
About Piper Rudnick LLP
Piper Rudnick is a business law firm of over 975 lawyers with offices in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Edison, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Reston, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington.
Based on the 28 highly-ranked lawyers in the firm, Piper Rudnick was ranked 15th in the nation in spring 2003 by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers 2003-2004. The American Lawyer’s Global 100 rankings for 2003 placed the firm 32nd by revenue worldwide and 31st by size. The firm’s practice is focused on: § Litigation, including national practices in securities, product liability, labor and commercial litigation, and a white-collar group featuring a former Watergate prosecutor. This group includes eight members of the American College of Trial Lawyers (one of whom also served as president), two former United States Attorneys and a former federal judge. § Real Estate, comprising one of the largest and most diverse practices in the United States, with a focus on transactional, finance and securities capabilities for owners and investors in all property sectors. § Business and Technology, including corporate and securities, corporate governance, franchise and distribution, intellectual property, media, information technology, taxation, bankruptcy, biosciences, IPOs, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, project finance, and other major transactions for companies of all sizes. § Government Affairs, including the nationally known federal affairs and legislation group formerly with Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson and Hand; a government controversies practice headed by the former general counsel of a leading telecommunications company; and prominent regulatory practices in government contracts, environmental, e-commerce and privacy, tax legislation, antitrust and communications. This group includes former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.
§ International, including international commerce and litigation, international dispute resolution and public international law, supplemented by the firm’s strategic alliance with The Cohen Group, an international strategic business consulting firm whose chair is former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, and whose vice-chair is former Supreme Allied Commander and General Joseph Ralston.