Source: https://www.mnat.com/about/story/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 00:51:18+00:00

Document:
A chronicle of our durable legacy.
When Judge Morris left the federal bench on June 30, 1930, it must have seemed an audacious move—or pure folly. What man in his right mind would leave a secure federal judgeship in the teeth of the Great Depression to hang out his shingle? Yet that is exactly what he did. In the summer of 1930, the 52 year old former judge opened the law offices of Hugh M. Morris on the fourth floor of the DuPont Building in Wilmington. The decision to start his new Firm was surely linked to the expanding incorporation business in his native state. By 1930 Delaware was well on its way to becoming the "corporate capital" that makes a handful of corporate law firms in Wilmington preeminent. Judge Morris was signally positioned to exploit that business.
Judge Morris resigns from the bench and re-enters private practice.
In short order Judge Morris established a client list that included important companies like DuPont and Coca-Cola and began to hire on bright young men to expand his law practice. In the early years Judge Morris' firm was very much a sole proprietorship. Judge Morris and "his boys" would collect to open the mail on business days and the Judge would parcel out assignments. Shortly after he opened his office he hired his first associate, Ivan Culbertson, who became a member of the bar in 1930.
Judge Morris strives to hire the best young lawyers available.
Judge Morris hires 25-year-old Alexander Nichols, who just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. That same year, he also hires Penn Law graduate George Burton Pearson and Yale Law School graduate Edwin Steel. Morris stressed talent over all other factors in hiring young lawyers. Inevitably, these talented lawyers achieved their own success.
Morris has been asked to deliver the keynote address at the state Democratic Party's convention in July, when the party would nominate a candidate to run for the U.S. Senate. His speech must have been powerful, for when he finished a spontaneous demonstration erupted on the convention floor calling for him to be the party's nominee. Morris turned aside the "draft Morris" movement, and the convention sent U.S. Representative Wilbur Adam into the Senate race instead.
Judge Morris declines nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for Senate.
When Sam Arsht began work he became the sixth of Judge Morris's "boys." Sam Arsht remembered that his starting salary matched what was being offered by the largest New York firms and was "very substantially more than any pay scale of any other Delaware firm." This was consistent with Judge Morris' aim to hire smart law school graduates, pay them handsomely and expect them to display a work ethic like his own.
Judge Morris hires Penn Law graduate S. Samuel Arsht.
This movement from the bench to the bar and vice versa has been a hallmark of Morris Nichols since its beginning. Judge Morris left the federal bench to found the Firm. Judge Tunnell left the State Supreme Court before he joined the Firm. Judge Pearson left the Firm for the Court of Chancery. In later years, Walter K. Stapleton left the Firm for the federal bench, Randy Holland left the Firm for the State Supreme Court, and William T. Allen, William B. Chandler and Donald F. Parsons left the Firm for Delaware's corporations court, the Court of Chancery.
Partner, George Burton Pearson leaves the Firm to join the Delaware Court of Chancery, becoming its first Vice Chancellor.
After the war years the Firm's business practice changed from the corporate restructurings and receiverships that had been common in the hard times of the Depression era to involvement in new ventures that reflected revived business growth.
The Firm also handled a mix of non-business related work, particularly estate and tax work as well as work for state agencies and departments.
In this era, the specialization that characterizes modern day law firms was in its infancy. The Firm's partners were "Jacks of all trades." There was no such thing as an office practice. All of the lawyers went to court.
Ed Steel, Alex Nichols and Sam Arsht had been with the Firm for years and by 1942, the sole proprietorship had become "Morris, Steel, Nichols and Arsht."
In October 1949, Sam Arsht accepted an appointment by Governor Elbert Carvel to be part of a three-lawyer commission to revise Delaware's statutory code. Each of the state's three counties was represented on the commission and Arsht served as chair. It was a monumental task, involving examination of the entire body of Delaware laws, which had not been revised since 1935 and was rooted deeply in the still earlier 1915 version. On Feb. 12, 1953, the newly revised code, clearly written and annotated, which an index and cross-referencing, was signed into law.
Partner S. Samuel Arsht selected as a member of a three-person panel to revise all existing Delaware laws; work completed in 1953.
Morris Nichols handles high-profile case, Associated Aviation Underwriters v. United Aircraft Corporation.
Nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 26, 1958. Confirmed by the Senate on April 22, 1958, and received commission on April 23, 1958.
Partner, Ed Steel appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
In 1958, the Firm's name changed to Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell as James M. Tunnell, Jr. joins. Tunnell was a former justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. He had left the bench in 1954 to make an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate.
When Judge James M. Tunnell joins, the Firm becomes known by its present-day name "Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell."
Morris Nichols begins representation of Howard Hughes' aircraft corporation, through to settling Hughes' estate in the 1980s.
The drafting committee members, each with one young lawyer serving as committee secretary, met every weekend for a year. Recognizing the national constituency that Delaware served, the committee wisely sought input from lawyers all over the country. As a result, the extensively revised Delaware General Corporation Law that became effective on July 3, 1967 made the statute even more widely accepted than it had been before. By 1969, The New York Times reported that new corporations were being chartered in Delaware at a record breaking clip.
Following the 1967 revision, Sam Arsht and other Morris Nichols lawyers wrote and spoke extensively about the new statute. These efforts greatly expanded the Firm's corporate practice making Morris Nichols, too, a beneficiary of the DGCL's ongoing success.
Ten years after Sam Arsht worked to revise all Delaware laws, he is appointed to the three-man Delaware Corporation Law Revision Committee.
On March 18, 1966, Hugh Morris passed away in his apartment, just a few weeks shy of his 89th birthday.
Morris Nichols begins work on landmark antitrust case for Outboard Marine Corporation involving a control system for powerboats.
In 1973, the Firm anticipated growth in the area of intellectual property and hired Boston patent attorney, Doug Whitney. Typically a patent practice at that time involved researching and registering patents but not litigating. Conversely, most general practice firms had lots of litigation experience but no direct experience in patent law. Just as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was formed in 1982, Morris Nichols hired more IP attorneys. It had become increasingly clear that the national, more than local, clients were shaping Morris Nichols' future. The proliferation of computers, software, and other electronic technologies created a burgeoning need for experienced patent lawyers.
Technology and the legal practice were about to intersect and create a national boom in intellectual property litigation.
Appointed by President Nixon to U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Confirmed by the Senate on October 8, 1970, and received commission on October 14, 1970, becoming the youngest judge ever to serve on that court. Served as chief judge, 1983-1985 and then went onto serve as justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit starting in 1985.
Thirty-five year old partner Walter K. Stapleton joins the bench.
Name partner Alex Nichols retires after 45 years with the Firm.
Green v. Santa Fe effectively held that the federal securities laws did not reach fiduciary duty issues arising out of takeover activity, which instead had to be litigated under the substantive law of the state of incorporation. As the domicile of well over half of the largest U.S. corporations, more often than not that meant Delaware, and in particular its Court of Chancery and Supreme Court.
The pace of much of the takeover litigation at the beginning of the 1980s was very fast. It was not uncommon to have pleadings, accelerated discovery, a preliminary injunction decision at the Chancery Court level and an appeal compressed to as little as 30-45 days.
Many of the takeover and merger cases handled by Morris Nichols in the 1980s–involving corporate giants such as Gulf Oil, Cities Service, Pabst Brewing, Phillips Petroleum, Dunkin' Donuts, Newmont Mining and Polaroid, to name a few–were of great economic significance to the parties and their stockholders.
The door to the Delaware bar's participation in the takeover boom in 1980s was opened wide by the 1977 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Green v. Santa Fe.
Having imprinted on dozens of younger attorneys the special brand of style and substance that made him a formidable force in the courtroom, Morris Nichols partner James Tunnell retires at the end of 1979. Tunnell was also a former Rhodes Scholar and Delaware Supreme Court Justice.
Having mentored dozens of younger attorneys, Justice James M. Tunnell, Jr. retires at the end of 1979.
Marguerite A. Conan became Morris Nichols’ first female partner in 1979, and served as the first chair of the Delaware State Bar Association’s Section on Women and the Law after that Section’s creation in March 1983.
The 1980s were a period of frenetic activity in the Delaware corporate bar as each of the bench, bar and legislature reacted to an unprecedented onslaught of innovative merger and takeover activity. Together, they combined to shape a new body of law to address the proper role of directors and the corporations they served with respect to such activity. Morris Nichols lawyers also took a leadership role in crafting and securing passage of both Delaware's director protection legislation (8 Del. C. § 102 (b)(7)) and its anti-takeover statute (8 Del. C. § 203). By the end of the 1980s, the level and intensity of the corporate practice at Morris Nichols had been radically transformed, as a new generation of lawyers stepped forward to build upon the foundations laid in the roaring eighties.
Beginning in the 1980s, Morris Nichols represents Coca-Cola in litigation with bottlers over cost of sugar and use of artificial sweeteners.
Morris Nichols attorneys drafted the Financial Center Development Act of 1981. Partner Frank Biondi served as lead author of the legislation and steered it successfully through the Delaware General Assembly. The Act opened doors for national banks and credit card companies to start operations in Delaware, which transformed the state's economy. Over the next 14 years, the partners of Morris Nichols drafted 12 additional major pieces of legislation affecting the banking, credit card and securities industries in Delaware.
Morris Nichols attorneys, led by partner Frank Biondi, write The Financial Center Development Act of 1981, transforms economy of the state and sends ripples through the national economy.
Morris Nichols represents Texaco board through bankruptcy and defeats Carl Icahn's bid for hostile takeover.
Morris Nichols represents Data General, wins landmark patent case against RCA.
Morris Nichols successfully represents Unocal against corporate raider T. Boone Pickens.
Judge William T. Allen left Morris Nichols in 1985 to join the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Justice Randy J. Holland left Morris Nichols in 1986 to join the Delaware Supreme Court bench.
Morris Nichols partners David Drexler, Lewis S. Black, Jr. and A. Gilchrist (Gil) Sparks, III write Delaware Corporation Law and Practice, the definitive work on Delaware corporation law, published by LexisNexis.
Chancellor William B. Chandler III left Morris Nichols to join the Delaware Superior Court in 1985. He went on to join the Delaware Court of Chancery in 1989.
Since 1990, Delaware has been the venue for nearly half of the nation's largest bankruptcy filings, and Morris Nichols has actively participated in many of its most sophisticated proceedings. Along with the Firm's traditional corporate practice and its patent work, a growing specialty in bankruptcy became the third leg of what Morris Nichols partner Lewis S. Black, Jr. called the "three-legged stool" of Morris Nichols contemporary practice.
The bankruptcy practice grew from veteran attorney Paul Welsh's strong client relationship with Continental Airlines. In the summer of 1990, Welsh successfully defended Continental in a difficult stock list case before the Delaware Court of Chancery. Shortly following that victory, Continental turned to Morris Nichols to file bankruptcy in Delaware. Soon after, TWA also enlisted the Firm for bankruptcy representation in Delaware.
Representing Continental stockholders, Morris Nichols defeats efforts of pilots to obtain stockholders list; brings Continental bankruptcy case to Delaware inaugurating a new era of burgeoning bankruptcy practice.
DuPont was launching a joint venture between its thirty-year-old pharmaceutical operation and Merck & Company. The transaction was challenging not only because of the billions of dollars at stake, but also because it required the working out of hundreds of unusually complicated details.
In five resulting pieces of litigation drew upon technical knowledge of chemistry, pharmacology, and the physiology of prostaglandins. Morris Nichols IP litigators traveled to Budapest, Sweden, and other parts of Europe to interview inventors, scientists, and ophthalmologists. The IP team prevailed for Pfizer in a New Jersey court and in August 2005 scored an appellate victory in the case. Sales for Xalatan, one of Pfizer's top-selling drugs, rose to 1.23 billion in 2004.
Diverse Patent Litigation Work with Pharmacia, Inc.
Morris Nichols represents Swedish pharmaceutical company Pharmacia, Inc. (later bought by Pfizer) in patent litigation regarding patents on a glaucoma medication.
Morris Nichols represents Merck in trade secrets case. Wins injunction in the Court of Chancery in May 1999 and prevails in subsequent appeal.
Vice Chancellor Donald F. Parsons, Jr. left Morris Nichols in 2003 to join the Delaware Court of Chancery bench.
Morris Nichols serves as counsel Rouge Industries through Chapter 11 filing and $285 million sale to Russian steel producer Severstal.
Morris Nichols represents Roy Disney and Stanley Gold in defending claims by shareholders of The Walt Disney Company challenging severance payments made to Michael Ovitz.
Morris Nichols acted as Delaware counsel in two of the largest M&A deals of 2006.
Morris Nichols acted as Delaware counsel to TPG in forming TPG Partners VI, L.P., which was one of the largest private equity funds in history with committed capital of more than $18 billion.
In Office of the Commissioner of Baseball v. Markell, 579 F. 3d. 293 (3d Cir. 2009), Morris Nichols served as lead counsel to professional sports leagues and the NCAA. In a successful outcome, the Third Circuit invalidated all of the portions of Delaware's proposed sports lottery, holding that it violated federal law.
The Firm represented the major sports leagues and the NCAA in successfully challenging Delaware's proposed sports betting scheme.
Morris Nichols serves as Delaware counsel to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. in three of its largest acquisitions, involving Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods Group, Inc.
On Sept. 9, 2010, Chancellor William B. Chandler III of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion in favor of Morris Nichols client eBay, finding that the controlling stockholders and directors of craigslist breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the adoption of certain transactions in January 2008, and ordered the rescission of (i) a right of first refusal and related share issuance that had diluted eBay's ownership interest in the company, and (ii) a poison pill. The ruling restored eBay's 28.4 percent ownership interest in craigslist.
Morris Nichols trial team contributed to eBay's victory in shareholder dispute with craigslist.
In 2013, affiliates of Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners proposed a high-profile going private merger. Morris Nichols represented the special committee of Dell Inc. When plaintiff-stockholders filed litigation on behalf of a putative class, and when Carl Icahn and affiliates also sued to challenge the transaction, Morris Nichols attorneys successfully opposed their efforts to obtain expedited discovery and the scheduling of a preliminary injunction hearing.
Representation of the Special Committee of Dell Inc.
Morris Nichols obtained a favorable outcome for the special committee of Dell Inc. in litigation before the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Morris Nichols represented Family Dollar Stores Inc. in high-profile, $8.5 billion deal with Dollar Tree.
The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s highest honor, the Marvel Cup Award recognizes a “Delawarean who has made an outstanding contribution to the state, community or society.” Frank played an integral role in developing Delaware’s Financial Center Development Act of 1981.
DSCC presents the prestigious Josiah Marvel Cup Award to retired Morris Nichols partner O. Francis "Frank" Biondi.
Judge Maryellen Noreika left Morris Nichols to join the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in 2018.
In October 2018, Diamond State Port Corporation (“DSPC”), an entity formed and owned by the State of Delaware, finalized a fifty-year lease and concession agreement with Gulftainer, an Emirati port operator. Morris Nichols served as lead counsel to DSPC, negotiating and drafting the transaction and real estate documents on behalf of the DSPC and overcoming significant complexities, including federal and state regulatory approvals. Gulftainer has said the port deal represents the largest operation ever run by a United Arab Emirates company in the United States as well as the largest investment ever by a private UAE company in the country.
Groundbreaking agreement transfers the operations of the Port of Wilmington to a private party.
Photos from Durable Legacy: A History of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell.
© 2005 Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, LLP. All rights reserved.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 § 102
 § 203
 v.