Mark A. Morton
Partner

TEL: (302) 984-6078
FAX: (302) 778-6078; Cell number (302) 750-4891
mmorton@potteranderson.com
vCard

Mr. Morton's practice involves corporate counseling, governance and opinion work.  Mr. Morton regularly advises clients regarding all aspects of the Delaware General Corporation Law, governance of Delaware corporations, and fiduciary obligations, both in the context of daily business affairs and with respect to specific corporate transactions.  Mr. Morton also authors opinion letters on a wide range of matters of Delaware corporation law.

Mr. Morton represents corporations and boards of directors in connection with mergers, asset sales, dividends, stock repurchases, charter and bylaw amendments, preferred stock designations, and dissolutions.  In addition, Mr. Morton frequently is engaged to serve as counsel to Special Committees in connection with various conflict transactions, including M&A transactions.

Mr. Morton currently serves as a member of the firm's Opinion Committee and as a member of its Business Development Committee.

Mr. Morton has been named by Chambers, USA:  America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading Delaware Corporate/M&A practitioner, and by Lawdragon as one of the Lawdragon 500 New Stars, New Worlds.

Education

  • Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1989; The Tax Lawyer, 1987-88
  • Dickinson College, B.A., cum laude, 1985

Representative Matters

  • Representation of InfoUSA in connection with proxy contest for 2006 Annual Meeting.
  • Representation of Inamed Corporation in connection with its acquisition by Allergan, Inc.
  • Representation of American Pharmaceutical Partners in connection with its acquisition of American BioSource, Inc.
  • Representation of Siebel Systems in connection with its acquisition by Oracle.
  • Representation of a special committee of the Board of Directors of Eon Labs in connection with the acquisition of Eon Labs by Novartis.
  • Representation of a special committee of the Board of Directors of Dreamworks Animation in connection with the sale of Dreamworks Studios to Paramount Studios.
  • In addition to the matters listed above, in recent years Mr. Morton has served as special Delaware counsel for special committees of the Boards of Directors for such corporations as: Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., G.P. Strategies, Inc., Hotels.com, IGEN, Inc., Insituform East, Inc., Kenetech Corporation, National Steel Corporation, Rare Medium, Sodexho Marriott, TDK Mediactive, Unico Corporation, and Venoco, Inc.

Seminars & Speeches

Mr. Morton is a frequent speaker on the national level on matters of Delaware corporation law. Most recently, Mr. Morton spoke at the UCLA M&A First Monday Forum, the ABA National Institute on Negotiating Business Acquisitions, the Southeastern M&A Forum, and at events sponsored by various State Bar Association M&A committees. In addition, Mr. Morton has been a speaker in a number of programs sponsored by the Negotiated Acquisitions Committee of the ABA, and has served as a speaker on Delaware corporate law issues for a number of national and regional law firms as part of their internal continuing education programs.

Professional Activities

  • Delaware State Bar Association
  • American Bar Association; Negotiated Acquisitions Committee, Business Law Section; Task Force on Public Companies; Vice Chair, M&A Dictionary Task Force