Disinfecting with Sunlight: Vice Chancellor Laster on Attorney Misconduct in M&A Cases

Vice Chancellor Laster recently delivered a lecture at the University of Iowa College of Law focused on attorney ethics. As followers of this blog know, Vice Chancellor Laster has issued several M&A decisions that feature factual findings regarding attorney conduct. Three of them – the so-called “A-Trilogy” – were the subject of his presentation (AB Stable; Anthem; and Akorn).

We would suggest all interested watch the video; junior attorneys would likely be particularly well served to consider the Vice Chancellor’s message. As additional motivation, in closing, the Vice Chancellor stated:

“I will continue to describe lawyer misbehavior when I see it and when it is relevant to the outcome. And I will continue to rely on Lewis Brandeis’ teaching that sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

This post is as of the posting date stated above. Sidley Austin LLP assumes no duty to update this post or post about any subsequent developments having a bearing on this post.