A weekly outreach to our friends and colleagues in Canada
Happy New Year Canada!
Praying for Haiti
Readers of our newsletter know we try mostly to keep things light and add a little humor to your work week, but like all of you our hearts are heavy as we witness the devastation in Haiti. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people and for the safety and success of the selfless relief, rescue and medical professionals -- many of them from Canada and the United States -- who have dropped everything to be where they are most needed.
Winning with Wilkins
This week Columbia, South Carolina once again kicked off its legislative year in grand style with a massive awards banquet named in honor of our own Ambassador David Wilkins.
The fifth annual David Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership is sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman University and was held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center the night before the start of a brand new legislative year.
The Ways and Means Chairman of the South Carolina House of Representatives and Anderson County District 10 Representative, Dan Cooper, is this year's Wilkins Award winner.
The sellout crowd of some 500 top lawmakers, businesspeople, educators and community leaders heard broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff deliver the keynote address. Past Wilkins dinners have featured keynote addresses by such notable figures as author and scholar Merle Black, former United States Senators Nancy Kassebaum Baker and Howard Baker, former Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and none other than Ambassador David Wilkins himself!
The Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership recognizes a South Carolina state legislator who "embodies the highest principles of leadership based on integrity, compassion, vision, civility and courage."
The Riley Institute at Furman is named for Furman graduate and former South Carolina governor and US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley who also represents the "Riley" here at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.
Furman University created the David H. Wilkins Legislative Leadership Program in 2006 in honor of David Wilkins' service as speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives and US Ambassador to Canada.
"Bonjour Y'all" is Back…
Just when we thought David Wilkins couldn't possibly find another way to utter the phrase "Bonjour y'all," along comes G – The Magazine of Greenville – naming Wilkins a "2009 Agent of Change."
Under the subtitle "Bridge Builder," the magazine credits Wilkins with his determined work to improve the US-Canada relationship. But our ever-humble diplomat laments the fact he never mastered French.
More from G:
David Wilkins admits to one shortcoming during his tenure as ambassador to Canada: never learning French in the bilingual country. “I never got past ‘Bon-joor y’all,’” he quips. “I did take French, but it didn’t take to me.”
That slight omission notwithstanding, Wilkins’s ambassadorship was widely hailed as a great success, characterized by the quality for which the Greenville native is perhaps best known locally and abroad: bringing people together…
“I got up every day, looked in the mirror and said, ‘You get to represent the United States of America today,’” says Wilkins. “It was a real adrenaline rush.” A personal highlight for Wilkins was a trip to Afghanistan to visit with Canadian and American troops, including 1,800 South Carolina national guardsmen.
Wilkins’s overarching vision as ambassador was to “leave the relationship (between the two nations) stronger than we found it,” and by all accounts he achieved that goal. Wilkins’s stint as ambassador came on top of his twenty-five-year tenure in the S.C. legislature, with eleven of those as Speaker of the House.
Two of his proudest moments as Speaker include the legislature’s banning of video poker and its decision to remove the Confederate battle flag from atop the statehouse dome. Recalling the bitter divisiveness of the flag issue and how it had thrust the state into a harsh national spotlight, Wilkins says of the 2000 flag decision, “It was the right thing to do, and the right time to do it, and I’m glad we got it done.”
South Carolina historian Walter Edgar calls Wilkins’s leadership on the flag issue “a tremendous act of statesmanship.” Edgar, author of the definitive history of South Carolina, describes Wilkins as “a man who did a fabulous job in what is probably the most politically difficult job in the state.”
After completing his term as ambassador in January 2009, Wilkins was invited to join, as a partner, the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He focuses primarily on international law. In the meantime, Wilkins remains in the public eye as chair of the Clemson University board of visitors.
But would he ever seek elective office again? “I have no plans to,” says Wilkins, adding: “But you know what they say: ‘Never say never.’”
—Paul Hyde
Clemson Curtain Call
It made for the most perfect post-Christmas gift for Ambassador Wilkins to watch his beloved Clemson Tigers football team defeat the Wildcats of Kentucky 21-13 in the Music City Bowl played down in Nashville.
And now with the bowl game in the can, we can all take a little breather from keeping up with Clemson.
If you are interested in the possibility of having Ambassador Wilkins speak at an event, please contact Christy Cox at Christy.Cox@nelsonmullins.com or call 803.255.9470.
The articles published in this newsletter are intended only to provide general information on the subjects covered. The contents should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Readers should consult with legal counsel to obtain specific legal advice based on particular situations.