
Patricia O. Vella
Patricia regularly provides advice on corporate governance matters and a variety of corporate transactions for publicly traded and privately held corporations.
Patricia is often called upon to advise on mergers and acquisitions, financings, asset sales and other significant transactions. Her work includes structuring complex transactions and often involves counseling boards of directors and board committees on their fiduciary duties and the technical aspects of Delaware corporate law. She also provides formal legal opinions on issues involving Delaware corporate law.
Actively involved with the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section, Patricia currently serves as Vice Chair of the Mergers & Acquisitions Committee. She is a former Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Acquisitions of Public Companies of the M&A Committee. She was a member of the Corporate Laws Committee from 2014-2020 and served as Co-Chair of the MBCA Implementation and Outreach Subcommittee of the Corporate Laws Committee. From 2011-2018, she also served as Co-Chair of the Joint Task Force on Governance Issues in Business Combinations. As part of her role as Task Force Co-Chair, she served as an editor of The Role of Directors in M&A Transactions: A Governance Handbook for Directors, Management and Advisors.
Patricia is a member of the Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association and, in that capacity, participates in the annual review of, and preparation of amendments to, the Delaware General Corporation Law. She was appointed by the Delaware Supreme Court to serve as a member of the court’s Board on Professional Responsibility (2012-2018). In 2018, she became a fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel, and in 2019 was named to the Board of Trustees and Secretary.
Patricia also frequently speaks on Delaware corporate law issues at corporate law seminars and symposia around the country, including the Tulane Corporate Law Institute, the University of Texas Mergers & Acquisitions Institute, the Ray Garrett Jr. Corporate and Securities Law Institute, the Northwestern Law Securities Regulation Institute and the ABA National M&A Institute. She also serves as Co-Chair of Practising Law Institute’s Mergers & Acquisitions conference.
News & Insights
- Publication, American Bar Association, 05.07.2019
The American Bar Association Business Law Section has published a new book titled, The Role of Directors in M&A Transactions: A Governance Handbook for Directors, Management and Advisors. Morris Nichols partner Patricia O. Vella is one of four editors of the Handbook that gives directors, management, and legal and financial advisors a framework for providing effective oversight of merger and acquisition deals.
Honors & Recognitions
Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, ranked in Delaware corporate M&A, 2014-2022
The Legal 500 US, Leading Lawyer in M&A corporate and commercial Delaware counsel, 2021
IFLR1000 United States, listed in Delaware financial and corporate, 2018-2022
Who’s Who Legal: M&A and Governance, listed in M&A, 2015-2022
The Best Lawyers in America and Best Lawyers Business Edition: Women in the Law, included in Delaware corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions, 2016-2023; corporate law, 2018-2023
The Best Lawyers in America, “Lawyer of the Year” in Delaware corporate governance law, 2019; mergers and acquisitions law, 2020
Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, included for corporate governance and M&A, 2022
Professional & Civic
American Bar Association (Business Law Section: Corporate Laws Committee (MBCA Implementation and Outreach Subcommittee Co-Chair 2014-2020), Mergers and Acquisitions Committee Vice Chair (Subcommittee on Acquisitions of Public Companies Co-Chair 2016-2022, Joint Task Force on Governance Issues in Business Combinations Co-Chair 2011-2018, Subcommittee on M&A Jurisprudence, Annual Survey Working Group))
American College of Governance Counsel (Fellow, Board of Trustees, Secretary)
Board on Professional Responsibility, Delaware Supreme Court (2012-2018)
Delaware State Bar Association (Council of the Corporation Law Section)
Clerkships
- Law Clerk to The Honorable Randy J. Holland, Delaware Supreme Court, 1996-1997
Education
Villanova University School of Law, JD, magna cum laude, 1996
Villanova Law Review, Executive Editor
University of Delaware, BS, business administration, magna cum laude, 1992
Admissions
- Delaware, 1996
Patricia is a fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel.