The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law welcomes former Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr. to the law school on October 24 for a “Fireside Chat with Chief Justice Strine.” This informal discussion led by The Deal journalist David Marcus will explore the present and future of American corporate law. Earlier in the day, Justice Strine will participate in a panel discussing labor interests in modern corporate law.
“It is no exaggeration to state that Justice Strine is one of the most influential figures in American corporate law,” said Associate Professor Will Moon. “His judicial opinions and academic writings will be essential reading for lawyers and academics litigating and studying corporate law for decades to come. We are delighted that our law students will be able to learn directly from him, as we welcome Justice Strine back to his hometown of Baltimore.”
Chief Justice Strine joined the Delaware Court of Chancery as a vice-chancellor in 1988, later serving as a chancellor in 2011 and becoming the eighth chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court in 2014, where he served until 2019. During his decades on the bench, he became widely acknowledged as a preeminent expert in corporate law and governance.
In his judicial positions, Chief Justice Strine wrote hundreds of opinions in the areas of corporate law, contract law, trusts and estates, criminal law, administrative law, and constitutional law. His influence over Delaware legal principles and issues relating to corporate governance is evidenced throughout his tenure as chief justice with such cases as Marchand v. Blue Bell Creameries, 212 A.2d 805 (Del. 2019) and the Corwin v. KKR Fin. Holdings LLC, 125 A.3d 304 (Del. 2015). While seeking regulations that fit his perspective of the ideal harmony between firms and their stockholders, he has had an unparalleled ability to clarify the complex matters of corporate law.
For a generation, he taught various corporate law courses at the Harvard and University of Pennsylvania law schools, and now serves as the Michael L. Wachter Distinguished Fellow in Law and Policy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and a senior fellow of the Harvard Program on Corporate Governance. From 2006 to 2019, Chief Justice Strine was the special judicial consultant to the ABA’s Committee on Corporate Laws. He also was the special judicial consultant to the ABA’s Committee on Mergers & Acquisitions from 2014 to 2019. He is a member of the American Law Institute and currently serves as an advisor on the project to create a restatement of corporate law. He is also of counsel at the New York law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz.
Chief Justice Strine speaks and writes frequently on the subjects of corporate and public law, and particularly the impact of business on society. His articles have been published in the University of Chicago Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Stanford Law Review, among others.
Before becoming a judge in 1998, he served as counsel and policy director to Delaware Governor Thomas R. Carper and worked as a corporate litigator at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 1990 to 1992. He was law clerk to Judge Walter K. Stapleton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Chief Judge John F. Gerry of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Chief Justice Strine graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1988.
Chief Justice Strine’s visit is supported by the Norman P. Ramsey Business Law Fund.