to view the Lawdragon's - Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP

Lawdragon Q & A with:greg williamsGreg Williams, past president and head ofthe corporate department, which includes the corporatelitigation practice, at Wilmington, Del.-basedRichards Layton & Finger, built his reputation as oneof the country’s top corporate litigators without everneeding to leave his home state. Born, raised and educatedin Delaware, Williams cut his litigation teeth tryingcases in the Delaware Court of Chancery during thecorporate litigation boom in the early 1980s, whenevery company seemed to be the target of a hostiletakeover. Since then, he has represented some of thelargest corporations in the world, from Citigroup toWalt Disney.LAWDRAGon: Can you describe the kind of work yourgroup does and how you differentiate yourself from themarketplace?GREGoRY WILLIAMS: Much of the work of our corporatedepartment is focused on advising our clients withrespect to transactions and then representing thoseclients in any litigation relating to the transactions.We also frequently represent investigatory andtransactional special committees of directors. In myview, the depth of our team distinguishes our firm inthe marketplace. We have transactional lawyers whohave extremely strong practices and our litigationgroup is, in my view, second to none in Delaware.LD: What advantage, if any, do you see in staying putin Delaware when other firms are going global?GW: We are very good at what we do -- representingDelaware businesses. There is no better place to do sothan right here in Wilmington. By keeping all of ourlawyers under one roof, we’ve been able to maintain abit of a small-firm culture, despite our size. Our practiceis very team oriented, and I think the fact that weare all here together helps those teams to operatesmoothly.LD: You’ve been practicing in Delaware for more than30 years now and have become a courtroom fixture.How has the practice of law changed over the years?GW: The fundamentals of my practice have remainedlargely unchanged. I am very fortunate to spend mostof my courtroom time in the Court of Chancery. You getvery spoiled in Chancery -- you know you will have avery capable, prepared judge every time you walk intothe courtroom.One of the biggest changes in the practice is thefact that almost all mergers and acquisitions now drawstockholder litigation. The quality of the stockholderbY Xenia Kobylarzplaintiffs’ bar has greatly improved over the course ofmy career.LD: It appears, at least when you read the papers, thatthere is a lot more shareholder activism going on thesedays than in the past. Do you see any impact of that inyour practice and how have company boards respondedto this perception?GW: Corporate boards do a much better job today thanthey did when I started practicing. The days of “countryclub boards” are over. Directors pay attention now-- which certainly makes defending them in litigationmuch easier.LD: What is your case docket like these days? Whatcompanies are you currently representing?GW: I am currently representing in Delaware litigation,among others, Dell, Bristol-Meyers, JP Morgan,Monsanto, Len Riggio (the Chairman of Barnes &Noble), and US Cellular. I also am advising specialcommittees of a couple of boards. I also am a AAA neutraland am serving as an arbitrator in a couple of matters.LD: If you have to choose one lesson that you learnedin law school that has helped you a lot in your practice,what would that be?GW: For me, the most important lessons I learned inlaw school had nothing to do with the law itself. In lawschool you had to learn to develop relationships withpeople that were able to withstand the pressures of adifficult workload, anxiety, etc. That skill is alsoextremely important in a law firm.You also had to learn how to pace yourself in orderto be ready for that one exam at the end of the semester-- not unlike pacing yourself and getting ready for atrial.LD: Have you always wanted to be a lawyer?GW: No, I wanted to be a doctor. An advisor told methat you needed a 4.0 grade point average to get into adomestic medical school. I thought the chances of myachieving a 4.0 with a pre-med major were slim tonone, so I literally walked over to the pre-law officeand looked around. I liked what I saw and decided togo to law school.LD: What is the first thing you do when you wake up inthe morning?GW: We live in the country and, whenever I have timeto do so, I do some type of chore outside before headingto the office. Doing so somehow seems to get meoff to the right start for the day. See the full Q&A atwww.lawdragon.com/lawyer-limelights/greg-williams.500Photo by: Andrew KahlL A W D R A G O N 117 I s s u e 13