Daniel D. Matthews

The annual peer-reviewed guide recognized Morris Nichols attorneys across a range of practice areas.

Morris Nichols received top rankings in the 2026 edition of Legal 500 US, with eleven attorneys recognized for their outstanding work in Delaware corporate and litigation matters.

Forty Morris Nichols attorneys were included in The Best Lawyers in America 2026. Four partners were noted as “Lawyer of the Year.”

Morris Nichols received high recognition in the 2025 edition of The Legal 500 United States, earning rankings among leading US law firms for M&A counseling and litigation.

Delaware, the corporate home of a majority of US public companies and venture-backed private companies, has adopted important amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) to provide additional protection and clarity for boards of directors and controlling stockholders. This client alert summarizes the changes which took effect on March 25, 2025 and apply retroactively to all acts and transactions, including demands to inspect books and records, unless legal proceedings were already commenced on or before February 17, 2025.

Dan Matthews serves as faculty and co-presents the concluding session, “Crisis Management, Tough Judgment Calls and Legal Ethics Considerations in Representing Emerging Growth Companies.”

Dan Matthews serves as program faculty and co-presents the concluding session, “Crisis Management, Tough Judgment Calls and Legal Ethics Considerations in Representing Emerging Growth Companies.”

On Monday, February 17, 2025, the General Assembly publicly released proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”).  The amendments, which we refer to as the “Balancing Amendments,” are intended to rebalance certain aspects of Delaware law relating to conflict transactions, controlling stockholder liability, and books and records demands. 

In the 2024 edition, Morris Nichols again appears in two Legal 500 practice categories for M&A litigation defense and Delaware counsel. Nineteen Morris Nichols attorneys are mentioned in the editorial for their work in M&A litigation and Delaware corporate and commercial law.

Dan Matthews serves as faculty and co-presents the concluding session, “Crisis Management, Tough Judgment Calls and Legal Ethics Considerations in Representing Emerging Growth Companies.”

On March 28, 2024, the Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association released proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law that, if adopted into law, would address recent caselaw regarding the facial validity of certain stockholder agreements, the ability of parties to a merger agreement to contract for certain pre-closing remedies and for the appointment of a stockholder representative to enforce post-closing remedies, and the process required to approve merger agreements.

The Best Lawyers in America has released its 2024 edition, listing 39 attorneys from Morris Nichols. The results are based on peer-review evaluations from more than 76,000 eligible attorneys.

The Legal 500 US, a nationwide guide to the foremost law firms in the United States has again ranked Morris Nichols.

The Practising Law Institute hosts their annual full-day program on Venture Capital Nuts and Bolts in San Francisco and via live webcast.

Dan Matthews and Kyle Pinder discuss the 2022 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) that were recently enacted.

Morris Nichols was again ranked in The Legal 500 US, a nationwide guide to the foremost law firms in the United States.

Dan Matthews co-presents the session, “Crisis Management, Tough Judgment Calls and Legal Ethics Considerations in Representing Emerging Growth Companies.” 

Four Morris Nichols partners will attend the conference as committee leaders and speakers, sharing insights on Delaware corporate law and VC/PE developments.

Morris Nichols was ranked in The Legal 500 US, a nationwide guide to the foremost law firms in the United States.

The Practising Law Institute presents its annual daylong program on Venture Capital 2021: Nuts and Bolts program. Morris Nichols partner Dan Matthews serves as faculty and will speak in the ethics session, “Crisis Management, Tough Judgment Calls and Legal Ethics Considerations in Representing Emerging Growth Companies.”

The first quarter of 2020 has brought interesting Delaware law developments for private, venture-backed companies. As is often the case, arising issues for companies in the venture capital and private equity space have had a different emphasis from the public company area. While public companies may be considering issues such as “virtual” stockholder meetings, delayed dividends and MACs in merger agreements, we have identified five main Delaware law highlights below in the VC/PE space.

The 2018 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") were recently enacted. The amendments update the ratification statute, Section 204, to address recent case law. Nonstock or "membership" corporations are now also permitted to use the statutory ratification provisions to cure corporate defects.

Morris Nichols attorneys A. Gilchrist Sparks III and Daniel D. Matthews co-authored the closing chapter in a treatise on legal developments in Delaware and the First State’s contributions to US corporate law.

Rick Alexander, James Honaker, and Daniel Matthews authored “Forum Selection Bylaws: Where We Are and Where We Go from Here,” published in the July 2013 Securities Litigation section of Insights: The Corporate & Securities Advisor (Vol. 27, No. 7).

Rick Alexander and Daniel Matthews authored “The Multi-Jurisdictional Stockholder Litigation Problem and the Forum Selection Solution,” published in the May 11, 2011 issue (Vol. 26, No. 19) of BNA’s Corporate Counsel Weekly.