American Bar Association

Member (1983 - present)

ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession

• Member, by presidential appointment (2021 - present)

ABA Center for Racial & Ethnic Diversity

• Member, by presidential appointment (2016 - 2017)

ABA Day Planning Committee

• Member, by presidential appointment (2012 - present)

ABA Practice Forward Coordinating Committee (Steering Committee)

• Member, by presidential appointment (2020 - 2022)

ABA State Membership Chair

• By presidential appointment (2022 - present)

House of Delegates

• State Delegate (2015 - present)
• State Bar Delegate (2006 - 2015)
• Vice Chair, Technology and Communications Committee (2022 - present)
• Vice Chair, Steering Committee of the Nominating Committee (2021 - 2022)
• Member, Steering Committee of the Nominating Committee (2020 - 2021)
• Member, Rules and Calendar Committee (2018 - 2020)
• Member, Resolution and Impact Review Committee (2016 - 2018)
• Member, House Committee on Delegate Involvement (2010 - 2012)

Judicial Division

• Appellate Judges Conference 
  • State Chair, Council of Appellate Lawyers (2020 - present)
• Lawyers Conference
• Member (2016 - present)
• Member, Special Master Committee (2016 - present)
  • Member, Black Letter Working Group (2017 - 2018)
  • Chair, Policy Subgroup (2017 - 2018)
  • Chair, Ethics Subcommittee (2018 - present)

Section of Business Law

• Past Chair (2017 - present)
• Immediate Past Chair (2017 - 2019)
• Chair (2016 - 2017)
• Chair-Elect (2015 - 2016)
• Vice Chair (2014 - present)
• Secretary (2013 - 2014)

Advance IV - Membership Team

• Member (2012 - 2013)

Audit Response Committee

• Member (2011 - present)

Business and Corporate Litigation Committee

• Co-Chair, Wellness, Life Balance, and Time Management Subcommittee (2019 - 2021)
• Chair (2010 - 2013)
• Co-Vice Chair (2008 - 2010)
• Co-Chair, Programs Subcommittee (2005 - 2007)
• Chair, Indemnification and Insurance Subcommittee (1997 - 2005)
• Vice Chair, Indemnification and Insurance Subcommittee (1995 -1996)

Corporate Documents and Process Committee

• Member (2008 - present)

Corporate Governance Committee

• Member (2011 - present)

Corporate Laws Committee

• Member (2017 - present)(by invitation)
  • Co-Chair, Derivative Proceedings and Litigation Task Force (2019 - present)

Director and Officer Liability Committee

• Member (2007 - present)
• Chair, Indemnification Subcommittee (2011 - 2013)
• Member, Model Indemnification Agreement Working Group (2007 - 2012)

Dispute Resolution Committee

• Member (2011 - present)

Federal Regulation of Securities Committee

• Member (2011 - present)

Mergers and Acquisition Committee

• Member (2011 - present)

Publications Board

• Vice-Chair (2012 - 2013)
• Member (2008 - 2013)

Section Nominations

• For Appointment to the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (2021, 2022)
• For Appointment to the ABA Standing Committee on Membership (2019 - 2020)
• For Appointment to the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary (2012)
• For Appointment to the ABA Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight (2009)
• For Appointment to the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism (2004)

Working Group Regarding Proposed Changes to the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct

• Chair (2005 - 2007)

Working Group for the Preparation of ABA Model Business and Supplier Policies on Labor Trafficking and Child Labor

• Co-Chair (2012 - 2015)

Section of Litigation

• Corporate Counsel Committee (2006 - present)

Section Officers Conference

• Liaison to the ABA Day Planning committee (2018 - 2019)

Standing Committee on Membership

• Special Advisor (2018 - 2020)

Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fundraising Committee

• Member, by presidential appointment (2014 - 2017)

American Bar Foundation

• Fellow (2009 - present, currently Patron Life Fellow)
• State Chair (2011 - 2015)

American College of Business Court Judges

• Honorary Member (2012 - present)

American Counsel Association

• Member (2010 - present)
• Past President (2020 – present)
• Immediate Past President (2020 – 2021)
• President (2019 – 2020)
• President-Elect (2018 – 2019)
• Vice President (2017 – 2018)
• Director (2012 - present)

American Inns of Court

• Member, Richard S. Rodney Inn of Court (2002 - 2018; 2022 - 2023)
• Member, Executive Committee (2006 - 2008, 2010 - 2017)
• Group Leader (2004 - 2008)

American Judicature Society

• Member (1983 - present)
• Advisory Member, Board of Directors (2019 - present)
• Past President (2012 - present)
• Immediate Past President (2011 - 2012)
• President (2010 - 2011)
• President-Elect (2009 - 2010)
• Director (2003 - 2012)
• Treasurer (2008 - 2009)
• Vice President (2006 - 2008)
• Chair, National Advisory Council (2005 - 2007)
• Chair, Strategic Planning and Implementation Committee (2005 - 2010)
• Chair, Advisory Committee to the Elmo B. Hunter Citizens Center for Judicial Selection (2003 - 2005)
• Member, Amicus Committee (2003 - 2005)
• Member, Finance Committee (2008 - present)
• Member, National Jury Center Advisory Committee (2003 - 2005)
• Member, Substantive Programming Committee (2003 - 2010)
• Member, Team Representing Delaware at National Conference on Pro Se Litigation (Scottsdale, AZ Nov. 18-21, 1999)

Delaware Law Related Education Center, Inc.

• Director (2006 - 2011)

Delaware State Bar Association

• Member (1982 - present)
• State Bar Delegate to the American Bar Association (2006 - 2015)
• Co-chair, Committee on Consumer Debt Actions in the Court of Common Pleas (2011 - 2014)
• Past Chair, ADR Section (2021 - present)
• Immediate Past Chair, ADR Section (2021 - 2022)
• Chair, ADR Section (2018 - 2021)
• Vice-Chair, ADR Section (2015 - 2016)
• Member, Judicial Appointments Committee (2000 - present)
• Member, Corporation Law Section (1983 - present)
• Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (2010 - present)
• Member, Council of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (2013 - present)
• Immediate Past President (2002 - 2003)
• President (2001 - 2002)
• President-Elect (2000 - 2001)
• Vice President At Large (1999 - 2000)
• Vice President, New Castle County (1997 - 1999)
• Secretary (1996 - 1997)
• Member, Executive Committee (2 years appointed, 8 years as an officer of the Association)
• Assistant Secretary (1995 - 1996)
• Member, Council of the Corporate Counsel Section (1995 - 2010)
• Member, Corporation Law Section (1983 - present)
• Member, Special Committee of the Corporation Law Section (2003 - 2007)
• Chair, Pro Se Litigation Assistance Committee (1996 - 2000; 2003 - 2007)
• Member, Diversity Committee (1995 - 2007)
• Chair, Program Committee (1989 - 1993)
• Member of the Editorial Board, The Delaware Bar In The Twentieth Century (1994)
• Member of the Editorial Board, The Delaware Constitution of 1897 -- The First 100 Years (1997)
• Member of the Editorial Board, Delaware Supreme Court Golden Anniversary (2001)
• Vice Chair, Committee on the Provision of Legal Services to Low Income People of Delaware (1994 - 1995)
• Member, Redding Fellows Subcommittee of the Diversity Committee (1994 - 1996)

Delaware Supreme Court

• Member, Board of Bar Examiners (2006 - 2012)
• Member, Delivery of Criminal Justice Policy Committee (2001 - 2002)
• Member, Rules Advisory Committee (1984 - 1987)
• Member, Delaware Appellate Handbook Subcommittee of the Rules Advisory Committee (1983 - 1990)

Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, Inc.

• Volunteer pro bono attorney (2009 - present)
• Volunteer mediator, Delaware Superior Court residential mortgage foreclosure program (2013 to present)

High School Mock Trial Competition

• Presiding Judge and Scoring Judge, Delaware Competition (2006 - 2015)
• Co-author, “case” for 2008 National Competition (hosted by Delaware)

Federal Bar Association (Delaware Chapter)

• Member (2007 - 2008, 2019 - 2021)

International Bar Association

• Member (1991 - 1996)

Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity

• Member (1980 - present)

OTHER DIRECTOR/TRUSTEE/OFFICER POSITIONS

Peninsula United Methodist Homes, Inc.

• Director (2006 - 2010)

Trustees of Color, Inc.

• Board of Advisors (2006 - 2011)

The Pilot School, Inc.

• Trustee (1992 - 2008)
• Treasurer (1995 - 2008)
• Member, Executive Committee (1995 - 2008)

HLR Holdings, Inc.

• Director (1990 - 1996)
• Assistant Secretary (1990 - 1996)

Roche Pharma, Inc.

• Assistant Secretary (1990 - 1998)

University & Whist Club of Wilmington

• Director (1989 - 1993)

Sigma Chi Fraternity

• President, Sigma Chi of Colgate, Inc. (alumni corporation) (1985 - 1989)

BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

• Martindale-Hubbell “AV” Rating
• The Best Lawyers in America® (Corporate Law, since 2007)
• Law Dragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (Commercial Litigation, esp. Chancery) (2022 - present)
• Delaware Super Lawyers®
• Top Attorneys in Delaware (Philadelphia Magazine)
• Who's Who in America
• Who’s Who in American Law
• Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America

HONORS

• "Daniel L. Herrmann Professional Conduct Award," Delaware State Bar Association (2021)
• Profiled in Delaware Beach Life (October 2012), "Making a Case for the Greater Good"
• “Community Service Award,” Delaware State Bar Association (2007)
• “President’s Citation,” Delaware State Bar Association (1996)
• “Certificate of Appreciation,” 1996 Louis L. Redding Fellows (1996)
• “Leadership Award,” Delaware State Human Relations Commission (1996)
• “Helping Hand – Diversity in the Legal Community,” Delaware State Conference of The NAACP (1995)
• “President’s Citation,” Delaware State Bar Association (1993)
• “President’s Citation,” Delaware State Bar Association (1991)
• “Grand Consul’s Citation,” Sigma Chi Fraternity (1989)

MEMBERSHIPS

• Wilmington Country Club
• Cripple Creek Golf and Country Club
• Lincoln Club of Delaware
• University & Whist Club

ACTIVITIES

Aldersgate United Methodist Church

• Member, Chancel Choir (1970 - 2000)
• Member, Worship Commission (2010 - 2011)
• Lay Delegate, Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference (2006 - 2009)
• Co-chair, Worship Commission (2006 - 2008)
• Lay Leader (2005 -2006)
• Associate Lay Leader (2003  -2004)
• Member, Administrative Board (2003 - present)
• Member, Staff-Parish Relations Committee (1996 - 1998)
• Chair, Religion & Race Commission (1986 - 1989)
• Past Member, Administrative Board, Lay Leadership (formerly Nominating) Committee and other committees of the Church

Bayard Middle School

• Mentor (2013 - 2016)

Boy Scouts of America

• Eagle Scout
• Chair, Troop 67 Troop Committee (1982 - 1985)
• Member, Executive Board, Del-Mar-Va Council B.S.A. (2017 - 2020)

Bethany Beach Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

• Moderator (2022 - 2023)
• Interim Vice Moderator (2021)
• Associate Member (2016 - present)
• Worship Leader (2017 - present)
• Trustee (2018 - 2020)

Colgate University

• Class Agent (1992 - 1995)

Delaware State Human Relations Commission

• Commissioner, by gubernatorial appointments (1987 - 2011)
• Member, Executive Committee
• Member, Legislative Committee (1994 - present)
• Past Acting Chair and Past Acting Vice Chair
• Chair, Regulations Committee (1994 - 1996)
• Chair, Legislative Committee (1994 -1996)
• Chair, Community Response Committee (1992 - 1994)

Rotary Club of Wilmington

• Member (1994 - 2014)
• Co-Parliamentarian (2006 - 2014)
• Member, Chaplains Committee (2006 - 2007)
• Chair, Rotary Foundation Committee (2005 - 2006)
• Vice Chair, Rotary Foundation Committee (2004 - 2005)
• Chair, Vocational Service Committee (2003 - 2004)
• Director (2000 - 2002)
• Vice Chair, Vocational Service Committee (1999 - 2000; 2002 - 2003)
• Chair, Scholarship Committee (1998 - 1999)
• Chair, Fellowship Committee (1997 - 1998)

Street Law Workshops for Students of Howard High School of Technology (Wilmington, DE) –
a partnership between Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP and the Legal Department of the DuPont Company

• Co-coordinator and presenter (2006 - 2014)

Stubbs Elementary School, Wilmington, Delaware

• Mentor (2010 - 2013)

United Way of Delaware

• Chair, Tocqueville Society (2011 - 2013)
• Chair, Legal Sector (2010 - 2011)

Washington and Lee University School of Law

• Class Agent (2013 - present)

Wilmington Ethics Commission

• Past Chair (2023 - present)
• Immediate Past Chair (2022 - present)
• Chair (2017 - 2022)
• Member (2017 - present)

Wilmington Friends School, Wilmington, Delaware

• Member, “Friends Forward” Capital Campaign Committee (2003 - 2005)
• Member, “250^th Celebration” Capital Campaign Committee (1998 - 1999)