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Delaware Oral History Project

from ILE Annual Report 2020-2021

from ILE Annual Report 2020-2021, page 4

Board of Advisors

DELAWARE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT AND THE LIPTON ARCHIVE

The Institute has created the Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center, a website repository of oral histories of the seminal Delaware corporate cases and legislative developments since the 1967 general revision of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The website includes recorded interviews of many of the lawyers and judges who participated in those cases and developments and whose recollections are important to preserve, as well as documentary videos that piece together the interviews and case materials into a single narrative.

In addition, building on the success of the Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center, the Institute has unveiled a new affiliated website, “The Lipton Archive.” The Lipton Archive is a living corporate law and governance history site focusing on the thought leadership of Martin Lipton of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The website offers a searchable index of Lipton’s iconic memos from their inception, as well as all of Lipton’s scholarly articles and a narrative of Lipton’s career and thought leadership.

Together with the Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center, the Lipton Archive enables scholars, teachers, students, and practitioners to conduct research, collect source material for classroom, executive and legal education sessions, and deepen their understanding of the history and traditions of corporate governance.

The website of the Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center can be found at www.law.upenn.edu/delawarecorporatehistory/. The Lipton Archive is available at www.theliptonarchive.org/.

THE DELAWARE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT AND THE LIPTON ARCHIVE

Five years ago, the Institute embarked upon an exciting long-term project involving the creation of oral histories of the seminal Delaware corporate cases and legislative developments since the general revision of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) in 1967. The project centers on recorded interviews to preserve the recollections of many of the lawyers and judges who participated in those cases and developments. Based on those interviews and on the opinions, briefs and other associated materials, the project has prepared a narrative video that presents the background stories of many of the cases. The Institute is proud to announce that, this year, it completed the project with the release of six more narrative videos: ”Omnicare,” “A Tale of Two Paramounts,” “From UOP to MFW: The Evolution of Delaware Freezeout Law,” “Cede v. Technicolor,” “From Household to Airgas,” and “Weinberger v. UOP.” The Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center website, which the Institute created and maintains, makes all these materials publicly accessible at no charge.

The oral history project emerged out of a series of advanced seminars taught by Delaware’s Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr. and Professor Michael Wachter. In previous years, the seminar featured participants in major Delaware corporate cases describing their experience and strategies in litigating the cases. That classroom experience highlighted the value of developing oral histories that gather and preserve similar recollections about Delaware’s landmark corporate cases. Given ILE’s close relationship with the Delaware courts over the years and the significance of this period in the development of modern Delaware corporate law, ILE expects this collection to be an invaluable resource for students and scholars.

This resource has been made possible by the generous support of key sponsors: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, CSC Global, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, Potter Anderson & Corroon, Richards, Layton & Finger, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, and the Delaware State Bar Association.

In June 2021, building on the success of the Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center, and with substantial support from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the Institute unveiled a new affiliated website, “The Lipton Archive.” The Lipton Archive is a living corporate law and governance history site focusing on the thought leadership of Martin Lipton of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The website has a searchable index of Lipton’s iconic memos from their inception and continuing into the future, as Lipton continues to address the emerging issues of this century. In addition, all of Lipton’s scholarly articles, and several of his important yearly writings (e.g., his Spotlight on Boards series) are available in chronological order. The site also has a narrative of Lipton’s career and thought leadership, which contains citations not only to his own work, but also those of leading thinkers with whom he has engaged in constructive dialogue. The site links to the rich materials in the Delaware Corporate Law Resource Center so that scholars, teachers, students, and practitioners may use them to conduct research, collect source material for classroom and executive and legal education sessions, and deepen their understanding of the history and traditions of corporate governance. pictured on the facing page 1 Theodore N. Mirvis, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Kevin R. Shannon, Potter Anderson & Corroon, LLP; Kenneth J. Nachbar, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP; Hon. William B. Chandler, III, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

2 David C. McBride, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP

3 Martin Lipton, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

4 Morton A. Pierce, White & Case LLP

5 Hon. Grover C. Brown, Gordon Founaris & Mammarella, P.A.

6 Thomas J. Allingham, II, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Arthur Dent, Potter Anderson & Corroon, LLP

7 A. Gilchrist Sparks, III, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP