William Chandler, the current Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, will soon be joining the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati announced as a partner. Widely respected as one of the country's most influential judges on issues of corporate law and governance, Chancellor Chandler will join the firm on June 18.

 

Chancellor Chandler has served since 1989 on the Delaware Court of Chancery, the nation's leading court for corporate law cases, particularly those relating to change of control and other corporate law issues. Since his appointment, he has issued more than a thousand opinions and presided over some of the most contentious and high-profile corporate law disputes in the country. Some of these cases include those involving The Walt Disney Company, Yahoo, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, eBay, Citigroup, Dow Chemical, and, most recently, the Air Products/Airgas dispute.

 

His opinions and analyses have made him one of the most influential corporate jurists in the world, and many of his rulings have become required reading for M&A and business law practitioners. He also has written and lectured widely on numerous critical corporate law issues, and during his tenure as Chancellor, he gained a national reputation for his successful administration of the Court of Chancery.

 

Prior to his appointment to the Court of Chancery, Chancellor Chandler served as resident judge of the Delaware Superior Court from 1985 to 1989. Earlier in his career, he was an associate with Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell and served as legal counsel to Pete duPont, the former governor of Delaware.