Former Delaware Chancellor Andre G. Bouchard Joins Paul, Weiss

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced today that Andre G. Bouchard, former Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, will join the firm as a partner in the Litigation Department, resident in the Wilmington office. Mr. Bouchard will focus on special committee and investigative matters, corporate governance and compliance issues and litigation strategy.

“We are thrilled that Andy, who has had a profound impact on Delaware jurisprudence, including as Chancellor the past seven years, is joining our partnership,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “Andy’s unique perspective on Delaware law, his powerful intellect, and his long and successful career as a litigator, will offer extraordinary benefits to our clients.”

“Andy is an incredible jurist and many of his decisions as Chancellor have had national and international impact,” said Litigation Department Co-Chair Jessica S. Carey. “At a time when Paul, Weiss is already a go-to firm in Delaware for the most significant deal challenge and shareholder rights litigation, Andy adds unparalleled strategic firepower to our thriving Delaware and M&A litigation practices.”

“I am excited to join Paul, Weiss, which has one of the most successful and dynamic practices involving high stake issues of Delaware law,” Mr. Bouchard said. “I also greatly appreciate Paul, Weiss’s collegial, collaborative culture, and look forward to working closely with my new colleagues, many of whom I already know and admire professionally.”

Mr. Bouchard served as Chancellor of the Court of Chancery from May 2014 until his retirement in May 2021, adjudicating some of the highest-profile business matters, such as the merger dispute between Viacom, Inc. and CBS Corporation and the recent restructuring battle involving WeWork, among others. His decisions on the bench have had a profound impact on business law, including in In re: Trulia Inc. Stockholder Litigation (2016), which set tougher standards for disclosure-only stockholder settlements; in In re: HomeFed Corp. Stockholder Litigation (2020), which clarified the terms under which a deal involving controlling investors can qualify for business judgment deference; and in FdG Logistics LLC v. A&R Logistics Holdings Inc. et al. (2016), which built on the law surrounding disputes over anti-reliance clauses, among others. As Chancellor, Mr. Bouchard also oversaw an expansion of the court from five constitutional judicial officers to seven, enabling the court to better handle a growing caseload, and oversaw the court’s successful pivot to all-remote proceedings during the pandemic.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Bouchard spent almost three decades in private practice, including 17 years as the managing partner of a corporate and commercial litigation boutique he founded alongside former Vice Chancellor and current Paul, Weiss of counsel Stephen P. Lamb, handling corporate law litigation, partnership and alternate entity disputes, and commercial litigation on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. Among others, he represented The Walt Disney Company in one of the Chancery Court’s most famous cases, a shareholder lawsuit in which the company successfully defended itself against claims by investors challenging a $140 million severance package paid to Michael Ovitz in 1997. 

Mr. Bouchard earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Boston College and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. By appointment of three Delaware governors, he served as chairman of the Delaware Human Relations Commission, as vice chair of the Delaware Health Information Network and as a member of the Governor’s Council on Equal Employment Opportunity, the Sentencing Accountability Commission and the Criminal Justice Council. He is also former chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission. Mr. Bouchard is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and of the American College of Governance Counsel, and a member of The American Law Institute. He was recently named chair of the board of advisors of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.