Practice Areas
Education
- J.D., cum laude, Order of the Coif, 2003, University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Executive Editor, University of Pennsylvania Law Review
- B.A., summa cum laude, 2000, Hofstra University
Clerkships
- Law Clerk to Chancellor William B. Chandler III and Vice Chancellor John W. Noble, Delaware Court of Chancery, 2003-2004
Admissions to Practice
- Delaware, 2005
- New York, 2004
Eric is a partner with the Delaware Corporate Law Counseling Group and a member of the firm's diversity committee. His practice is primarily focused on the statutory requirements of the Delaware General Corporation Law and the fiduciary duties of directors, officers, and controlling stockholders of Delaware corporations. Eric's work often involves counseling corporations and special committees in the context of potential transactions, aiding corporations and investors in structuring capital investments, advising generally on corporate governance issues, and providing formal legal opinions on issues of Delaware corporate law and related matters. Eric also provides corporate-related advice in the context of high-stakes litigation, and has been involved in a number of key opinions issued by the Delaware courts over the past few years, including eBay Domestic Holdings, Inc. v. Newmark and Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. v. Airgas, Inc. (each involving poison pills), SV Investment Partners, LLC v. ThoughtWorks, Inc. (preferred stockholder redemption provision), and In re OPENLANE, Inc. (Revlon opinion upholding sign and consent transaction structure).
Eric is the editor of Preferred Returns, the newsletter of the ABA Section of Business Law Committee on Venture Capital and Private Equity and also serves on the Financial Advisor Task Force and Market Trends Subcommittee of the ABA Section of Business Law Mergers and Acquisitions Committee. He was a member of the committee of the Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association that drafted what ultimately became Section 267 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, allowing alternative entities to serve as the parent entity in a short form merger. Eric is actively involved in the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Institute for Law and Economics and, with his colleague Jeff Wolters, annually teaches a course on contract drafting at Villlanova Law School. He is also a lead editor of the Drexler, Black, and Sparks, Delaware Corporation Law and Practice annual publication.
Prior to coming to Morris Nichols, Eric was a clerk to Chancellor William B. Chandler III and Vice Chancelor John W. Noble of the Delaware Court of Chancery and was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York.
Professional and Community Activities
- Board of Directors, ACLU-Delaware (Legal Review Panel and Fundraising Committee)
- Member, Board of Directors of the Delaware HIV Consortium
- Member, University of Pennsylvania Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Alumni Association
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Delaware State Bar Association
News
- Tarik Haskins, Curtis Miller, Eric Wilensky to Become Morris Nichols' Newest Partners
Tarik J. Haskins, Curtis Miller and Eric Wilensky will become partners, effective January 1, 2012. - Gil Sparks, Rick Alexander, Lou Hering, Patricia Vella, Eric Wilensky – Present at ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting
Gil Sparks, Rick Alexander, Lou Hering, Tricia Vella, and Eric Wilensky served as panel speakers at the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section Spring Meeting in Boston. - Morris Nichols Trial Team Contributes to eBay's Victory in Shareholder Dispute with craigslist
William Lafferty headed the Morris Nichols trial team that represented eBay Inc. in its successful shareholder dispute against craigslist. - Morris Nichols Represents IMS Health Transaction Committee in $5.2 Billion Private Equity Acquisition – Largest Leveraged Buyout this Year
Rick Alexander, and associates Eric Wilensky and Ryan Greecher, advised the Transaction Committee for IMS Health, Inc. in connection with its acquisition by TPG Capital and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a transaction valued at $5.2 billion.
Notable Publications and Presentations
- Eric Wilensky, Angela Priest, Corporate Governance Developments in a Recessionary Environment, Securities Regulation & Law Report, Vol. 41, No. 20 (May 18, 2009)
- William M. Lafferty, Eric Wilensky, John P. DiTomo, Material Adverse Effects And Reasonable Best Efforts: The Hexion/Huntsman Opinion, (2008)
- Eric Wilensky, Angela Priest, 2007 Developments in Delaware Corporation Law, Securities Regulation & Law Report, Vol. 40, No. 19 (May 12, 2008)
- Eric Wilensky, Angela Priest, 2006 Developments In Delaware Corporation Law On Directors: Good Faith, Duties In Zone Of Insolvency, And Structuring Deals, 39 Securities Regulation & Law Report 476 (Mar. 26, 2007)
- William M. Lafferty, Eric Wilensky, Delaware Court of Chancery Suggests that Federal Securities Regulation do not Trump State Annual Meeting Law
- Eric Wilensky, A Contractarian Critique of the Theory of Auto-Limitation: The Fundamental Law of International Relations, 150 U. Pa. L. Rev. 2011 (2002)
- John F. Johnston, Eric Wilensky, Vice Chancellor Strine Proposes Changes in Going-Private Standards of Review