Columbia Law School to Host Conference on Delaware Court of Chancery

News From Columbia Law
Story Archive
Columbia Law School to Host Conference on Delaware Court of Chancery

Media Contact: Public Affairs, 212-854-2650, [email protected]

New York, Nov. 4, 2011—The Delaware Court of Chancery, the preeminent forum for business litigation in the United States, will be the subject of a Nov. 11 conference held at Columbia Law School in New York.

“The Delaware Court of Chancery: Change and Continuity” will focus on the legacy of the Honorable William B. Chandler III, who served as chancellor of the Delaware court from 1997 to June 2011. Former Chancellor Chandler ruled on a wide range of disputes, including challenges to the boards of Walt Disney and Hewlett-Packard, and litigation between eBay and Craigslist that struck down Craigslist’s poison pill. He is the author of more than 1,100 judicial opinions.

The program will equally celebrate the investiture of incoming Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr., who has also written numerous groundbreaking corporate law decisions and has led the Court of Chancery since 2011. A particular focus will be on “merger and acquisition” litigation and the new tendency for such litigation to occur in multiple forums.

The conference will be chaired by Columbia Law School’s John C. Coffee Jr., the Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law and a leading expert on corporate and securities law; Delaware Supreme Court Justice Jack B. Jacobs, a member of the Law School’s adjunct faculty; and William Savitt ’97, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and also a member of the Law School’s adjunct faculty. Wachtell is co-sponsoring the event with Columbia Law School.

“This is a major transitional moment for the Delaware Court of Chancery, and we want to focus on both its recent past under Chancellor Chandler and its future under Chancellor Strine,” said Coffee.

Speakers will discuss some of the most pressing issues that arose for the Court during the Chandler era, and how those issues are likely to play out under the current chancellor. Panelists will also discuss Delaware’s influence on business courts around the country as well as other topics pertaining to the Court of Chancery.

Among the list of distinguished speakers and participants are Chancellor Strine, former Chancellor Chandler, and Justice Jack Jacobs. All of the sitting members of the Court of Chancery will attend and participate on panels.

The Chancery Court, founded in 1792, is the venue of choice for Fortune 500 companies, more than 60 percent of which are incorporated in Delaware. Last year, the Court disposed of more than 3,700 cases.

A complete list of speakers and participants is available here. The conference is supported by the Stephen Friedman Endowed Fund in Business Law. Articles submitted by conference panelists as well as other proceedings will be published in a special issue of the Columbia Business Law Review dedicated to the the conference.

# # #

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins its traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law, and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, criminal, national security, and environmental law.