Diane Holt Frankle Co-Chairs ABA Business Law Section’s 2014 Delaware Business Law Forum

Kaye Scholer Corporate Partner Diane Holt Frankle co-chaired the ABA’s 2014 Delaware Business Law Forum, held October 24-25, 2014 at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, DE.

This biennial event provides an opportunity for senior legal practitioners to discuss significant Delaware governance topics with members of the Delaware judiciary and their peers in a setting that enhances creative thinking and conversation. The Forum Co-Chairs prepare a hypothetical to enable the discussion among senior corporate lawyers and other governance practitioners, invite panelists and keynote speakers, and arrange for a dinner speaker, and an experienced pair of litigators to conduct a mock argument in front of a member of the Delaware judiciary. In addition, the Co-Chairs convene monthly meetings of a Coordinating Committee of practicing lawyers to advise on the agenda and assist in getting speakers and panelists, as well as to suggest other experienced lawyers who might like to participate in discussions in this interactive setting.

This year’s keynote speaker was Chief Justice Leo Strine of the Delaware Supreme Court, while the dinner panel featured an interview with former Chief Justice Myron Steele and former Justice Jack Jacobs regarding their perspectives on the key developments in Delaware corporate law over the last generation. Other highlights included a spirited panel on the Future of the Board-centric Model of Governance, with two experienced directors, and two representatives of institutional investors, and an oral argument on the legality of several bylaws in front of the newest Delaware Supreme Court Justice Karen Valihura. As always, the heart of the program was a small group discussion by forum participants of a thought-provoking hypothetical raising issues on the key governance topics of the day.  One of the participants described the event as a “graduate level seminar.”  The event was attended by a record 80 registrants.    

This was the third Delaware Business Law Forum co-chaired by Frankle and represented the conclusion of her four-year term as co-chair, as well as the culmination of her multi-year effort to expand participation in the Forum both geographically and professionally