Corporate Governance

Matt Darby has been invited to join the firm partnership, effective January 1, 2027.

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

Kyle Pinder serves as a panelist at this National Conference in Nashville.

John DiTomo speaks on a panel discussion of recent Delaware corporate law developments.

Kyle Pinder speaks in a panel discussion on shareholder proposal rule.

Kyle Pinder serves as a panelist at the University of North Carolina School of Law’s 2025 Dan K. Moore Program in Ethics.

Eric Klinger-Wilensky moderates a panel on Delaware corporate law developments.

Kyle Pinder joins a Council of Institutional Investors webinar discussion on the intersection of shareholder proposal regulations and state corporate laws.

Jeff Wolters speaks at the 2025 VCGC Conference in Nashville, where he co-presents a mainstage panel on recent developments in Delaware law impacting venture capital fund governance, entity structures, and regulatory exposure.

Kyle Pinder co-chairs PLI’s Shareholder Activism 2025 half-day program, offering insights on activism trends, preparedness strategies, and Delaware case law developments.

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

Corporate counseling partner Eric Klinger-Wilensky joins Gibson Dunn to present a webinar on important changes to Delaware and Texas corporate law.

Eric Klinger-Wilensky joined a panel discussion of the 2025 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DCGL) and potential impacts to dealmaking and corporate governance practice.

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.”

Kyle Pinder speaks on a webcast presented by TheCorporateCounsel.net.

Bill Lafferty participates in a high-level discussion exploring how directors can fulfill their duties effectively amid a landscape of shifting expectations.

Bill Lafferty serves as program faculty and co-presents the morning session, “Delaware Spotlight: What Boards Need to know.” 

Tricia Vella speaks on the afternoon panel, “Evolving Expectations in Director & Officer Oversight.”

Melissa A. DiVincenzo has been elected to the American College of Governance Counsel 2024 Class of Fellows.

The Best Lawyers in America has released its 2025 edition listing 39 attorneys from Morris Nichols. The results are based on peer-review evaluations from more than 160,000 eligible attorneys.

Patricia Vella moderates a panel on “Delaware Developments: The Latest from the First State.”

The 2024 edition of Best Law Firms® ranks Morris Nichols in 20 Delaware practice areas.

Corporate counseling partner Patricia Vella joins the Society for Corporate Governance’s Northern California, Nevada & Hawaii Chapter for their monthly Roundtable Series.

Alexandra Cumings and Kyle Pinder have been invited to join the firm partnership, effective January 1, 2024, and Elizabeth Mullin will be promoted to special counsel.

Patricia Vella is programming co-chair of the 2023 Delaware Governance Institute.

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.

Patricia Vella will serve as program faculty and speak on the June 21 session, “Recent Delaware Law Happenings.”

Morris Nichols partner Patricia O. Vella has been elected Vice Chair of the Ameican College of Governance Counsel.

Eric Klinger-Wilensky will moderate the panel, “Hot Topics for Boards and Directors.”

Morris Nichols was selected for inclusion in a range of Delaware business law categories including corporate law and transactions; bankruptcy and reorganizations; and M&A, IP and patent litigation.

The Best Lawyers in America has released its 2023 edition, listing 35 attorneys from Morris Nichols. The results are based on peer-review evaluations from more than 71,000 eligible attorneys.

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

The 2022 edition of U.S. News - Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” ranks Delaware law firm Morris Nichols in 25 areas.

The Best Lawyers in America has released its 2022 edition, listing thirty-two attorneys from Morris Nichols. The results are based on peer-review evaluations from more than 66,000 eligible attorneys.

On June 30, Morris Nichols partner Patricia Vella will speak in the session on “Delaware Law & Litigation Developments.”

Morris Nichols partner Melissa DiVincenzo speaks in a webinar focusing on benefit corporations and corporate governance.

Morris Nichols partners, Jason Russell and Jim Honaker, will serve as presenters. Jason will speak on “Recent Developments in Unclaimed Property in Delaware.” Jim will present the session “Recent Statutory Amendments to the DGCL.”

Morris Nichols was selected for inclusion in a range of Delaware business law areas, listed below, as well as a national tier for “Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions.” The rankings are based on a combination of client feedback, survey responses, and peer review.

Thirty-one Morris Nichols attorneys were recognized in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The results are based on peer-review evaluations from more than 67,000 eligible attorneys.

Morris Nichols attorney Kyle Pinder examines the potential sources of an inherent precatory proposal right and concludes that Delaware law does not provide such a right.

Morris Nichols partner Kyle Pinder joined TheCorporateCounsel.net’s “Timely Takes Podcast” to discuss precatory stockholder proposals under Delaware law.

Kyle Pinder joined the co-host of the Shareholder Primary podcast to discuss the core conclusions of his forthcoming research paper, “The Non-Binding Bind: Reframing Precatory Stockholder Proposals under Delaware Law.”

Morris Nichols partner Kyle Pinder, along with Cleary Gottlieb partners J.T. Ho and Helena K. Grannis, co-authored this article.

Morris Nichols attorney Kyle Pinder has a forthcoming article examining the potential sources of an inherent precatory proposal right. 

Eric Klinger-Wilensky, John DiTomo, and Kyle Pinder authored an article in The Corporate Governance Advisor analyzing the 2025 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law and their role in strengthening Delaware’s status as the premier jurisdiction for corporations.

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.

Kyle Pinder joins the new podcast series “Understanding Activism with John & J.T.” to discuss recent challenges to advance notice bylaws and the implications of Kellner v. AIM Immunotech.

Bill Lafferty and Eric Klinger-Wilensky co-authored an article on recent Delaware law updates.

Corporate counseling partner Kyle Pinder recently authored an article in The Corporate Governance Advisor discussing four possible approaches when crafting forum selection, or exclusive forum, provisions requiring certain claims to be brought in a specific court or courts. 

Morris Nichols attorneys Eric Klinger-Wilensky and Melissa DiVincenzo published three guides on Delaware public benefit corporations for Practical Law Corporate & Securities. 

As COVID-19 continues to affect the legal community and the world in various ways, Delaware courts and state agencies have issued orders concerning COVID-19 measures. Here, we have consolidated key Delaware law resources on the unfolding situation. Our attorneys are committed to serving our clients through this challenging time.

In light of the health risks posed by COVID-19, on April 6, 2020, Delaware Governor John C. Carney issued a modification of Delaware’s state of emergency first declared on March 12, 2020, to provide some flexibility to Delaware public corporations that have already sent notice of meetings to be held at a physical location.

The Delaware Supreme Court issued an important opinion holding that federal forum selection provisions adopted by Delaware corporations requiring that stockholders file actions arising under the Securities Act of 1933 (1933 Act) in federal court - and not state court - are facially valid.

COVID-19’s disruption to the economy has prompted a number of questions from Delaware corporations about their ability to preserve capital if they have already declared a cash dividend.  This memo, released jointly by the Delaware firms listed at the bottom, addresses some of the issues a board of a Delaware corporation might consider in such circumstances.

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.

Jeffrey R. Wolters, Tom Kellerman, “Corporate Governance for Venture-Backed Companies,” The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation (March 2012)

Eric Klinger-Wilensky, “Corporate Governance Developments in a Recessionary Environment,” Securities Regulation & Law Report, Vol. 41, No. 20 (May 18, 2009)

Frederick H. Alexander, James D. Honaker, “Stockholders in Corporate Governance: Power to the Franchise or the Fiduciaries?: An Analysis of the Limits on Stockholder Activist Bylaws,” Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, Vol. 33 (2008)