A retired Cincinnati lawyer is part of a delegation helping to set up classes in commercial law in South Africa.

Frank Hale Stewart, a former Taft Stettinius & Hollister lawyer and a part-time law professor at his alma mater, the University of Virginia Law School, recently returned from South Africa as part of the People to People Ambassador program.

The delegation had representatives from many states, Stewart said.

"We met with practically every branch of legal practice in South Africa: government officials, judges and professors,'' he said.

He said he and his classmate, Leigh Middleditch, president of the Senior Lawyers Association - one of the sponsoring groups - interviewed lawyers and students who might participate in a program teaching commercial law to South African students.

"We wanted to get a feel of the academic climate,'' said Stewart, of Hyde Park.

He pointed out that the commercial law courses would include such topics as: general introduction to types of commercial transactions and applicable sources of law; basic forms of business organization; confidentiality agreements; principles of purchase and sale of businesses and companies; warranties and indemnities; limitations, disclosures, property and mineral rights contracts; introduction to international commercial transactions; international mergers and acquisitions, and dispute resolution and arbitration.

"I think it is appropriate that American lawyers are involved in teaching commercial law because we are the biggest commercial country in the world,'' Stewart said.

Recipient recognized

The LifeCenter Organ Donor Network held its Third Annual All-Star Celebrity Roast Saturday at the Hyatt Hotel, celebrating the Cincinnati Bengals.

But there was one person without a Bengals' connection. He was Dave Parker, former Cincinnati Red.

A touching moment of the ceremony was recognition of Georgine Wolohan as the longest-living liver transplant recipient in Cincinnati. Her life is one of faith, fear, tragedy and miracles.

Here, let her tell you: "On July 23rd at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the word came. There was a donor match for my failing liver. I cried. I was ecstatic. I was scared. Up until I had arrived a month earlier, I had not even heard of a liver transplant.

"This was in the realm of science fiction. For 10 years, my family and I had lived with the knowledge that there was no cure for my liver disease.''

Since the liver transplant 18 years ago, Wolohan said, she and her husband, Tim, have seen their daughter get married, seen the birth of two grandchildren, traveled, learned to play golf and been volunteers for the LifeCenter.

The mission of the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network is to recover organs and tissue for patients in need.

To learn more about the agency, call 558-5555 or (800) 981-5433 or visit the Web site: www.lifecnt.org.

Emergency response team

MIAMI TOWNSHIP - The township's first Community Emergency Response Team class recently graduated.

The 20-hour course trains citizens to support first responders in a natural disaster or other emergency, officials said.

During an emergency, response team members can provide immediate assistance to victims, lead volunteers at a disaster site and provide assistance to township emergency crews.

The training includes disaster preparedness, basic disaster medical operations, fire safety and training in light search and rescue. Students are trained to handle multiple injuries and make judgments about the seriousness of injuries, learn how to keep themselves safe, extinguish small fires and render the scene as safe as possible until more help arrives.

"After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush called on citizens to volunteer and assist during disasters," Miami Township Fire Chief Jim Whitworth said.

"The CERT program trains citizens to help themselves and their neighbors until the township's emergency services can take over."

Send police and fire items to behindthebadge@fuse.net