William M. Lafferty > Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP > Wilmington, United States > Lawyer Profile

William M. Lafferty

302-351-9341 wlafferty@morrisnichols.com View profile

Work Department

Corporate & Commercial Litigation

Position

Morris Nichols partner Bill Lafferty has spent more than 30 years focusing on Delaware corporate and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on cases involving mergers and acquisitions, proxy contests and consent solicitations, and shareholder class and derivative actions.  His litigation practice concentrates on cases pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery and Delaware Supreme Court as well as matters in the federal court both in Delaware and in other jurisdictions.  He also advises corporate clients and boards of directors with respect to litigation and transactional matters including representations of special negotiating committees, shareholder demand review committees, and special litigation committees.

Bill has acted as lead or co-counsel in numerous significant litigations involving Delaware corporate law issues. He also has represented numerous private equity firms in litigations in Delaware arising from M&A transactions and a number of investment banks in transactional matters and litigation.

For more, visit his bio at https://www.mnat.com/attorneys/william-m-lafferty.

Career

Bill is a Fellow to the American College of Trial Lawyers and serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics, University of Delaware, and the NYU School of Law Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance.

He is the author of numerous articles on Delaware corporate law and contributed chapters on appraisal rights and inspection of corporate/partnership books and records to a five volume corporate law treatise.  He frequently presents before business and professional audiences on Delaware corporate law, and has been a guest instructor at M&A law classes at Harvard Law School, University of Pennsylvania, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford University, New York University, Columbia University, Penn State Dickinson School of Law, Hofstra University, and Delaware Law School.

Memberships

American Bar Association (Business Law Section, Committee on Business and Corporate Litigation, and Securities Litigation Committee (M&A/Proxy Litigation Subcommittee, Co-Chair))

American College of Trial Lawyers (Fellow)

Arsht-Cannon Fund (Advisory Board)

Combined Campaign for Justice (Co-Chair)

Court of Chancery Rules Committee (Chairman)

Delaware Board of Bar Examiners (appointed by Delaware Supreme Court, 2000-2006)

Delaware Commission on Continuing Legal Education (Chairman, 2004-2007)

Dickinson Law Board of Overseers (Advisory Board)

Delaware State Bar Association (Corporation Law Section and Committee on Professional Ethics)

Delaware Supreme Court Rules Committee  (Former Member)

John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware (Advisory Board)

NYU School of Law Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance (Advisory Board)

Sanford School (Member, 2008-present; President of Board, 2013-2017)

Tulane Corporate Law Institute (Co-Chair)

University of Delaware (Board of Trustees, Chair of Audit Visiting Committee)

William H. Heald Scholarship Committee (Chair)

Education

Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University, JD, 1989
Dickinson Law Review, articles editor, 1988-1989
Woolsock Honor Society

Appellate Moot Court Board

United States Attorney Clinic

University of Delaware, BSBA, finance, 1985