ABOUT
Peter B. Ladig is the Vice Chair of the Corporate and Commercial Litigation Group at Morris James.
Pete concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate governance and commercial litigation, stockholder litigation, fiduciary duties, partnership and limited liability company disputes, and class action and derivative litigation. Pete represents stockholders and directors in corporate litigation in the Court of Chancery in a wide range of matters, including advancement of legal fees and expenses, reviews of elections of directors, requests to inspect books and records, and claims for breaches of fiduciary duties. He also represents corporations and other entities in commercial disputes involving breach of contract claims and claims arising under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. Pete has served on the Rules Committee of the Court of Chancery since 2011 and served as one of the principal drafters of Rule 5.1.
Pete also has extensive experience in the growing area of the “business divorce,” particularly requests for judicial dissolution of limited liability companies and corporations. Pete is the Co-Chair of the Business Divorce Subcommittee of the Business and Corporation Litigation Committee of the Business Law Section of the ABA. In addition to his experience litigating business divorces, Pete also served as counsel to a custodian appointed by the Court of Chancery charged with selling an operating company to resolve a business divorce. Pete has spoken on panels about business divorce and made substantial contributions to Litigating the Business Divorce, a publication from BNA. Pete co-authored an article published in the Fall 2015 volume of The Business Lawyer titled, “Judicial Dissolution: Are the Courts of the State that Brought You In the Only Courts that Can Take You Out?” Pete also co-hosts CorpCast, the firm’s podcast discussing corporate and commercial law in Delaware.
Pete also uses his litigation experience to advise special committees of boards of directors in analyzing conflict transactions or investigating alleged wrongdoing. Pete and Morris James have represented several of each type of committee.
Pete has been recognized by Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the years 2008-2009 and 2011-2017 as one of the leading Chancery Court practitioners in Delaware. Chambers USA 2017 described Pete as a “seasoned commercial litigator, with particular expertise in the growing practice of ‘business divorce,’ including requests for judicial dissolution of limited liability companies and corporations.” Chambers USA 2013 reported, Pete’s “legal analysis is excellent, his knowledge of Delaware law is brilliant,” and he is also a “very personable guy.” He is “just about everything that you would want with a co-counsel,” say interviewees. In Chambers USA 2012, Pete was described as someone who “knows the courts, has a good sense of the law and has a good sense of strategy – I feel I can rely on him for everything related to a Delaware lawsuit.” Pete has also been recognized by Delaware Super Lawyers® in 2013-2015 for Business Litigation and by Best Lawyers® in 2013 and 2014.
