WSGR logoWSGR logo
Joseph R. Slights III
Partner
Litigation
Wilmington, DE

D302-502-8400

Download vCard
Open PDF
  • Experienced Litigator and Corporate Law Advisor

    Joe has over three decades of legal experience, both on the bench of two nationally renowned commercial trial courts and in private practice. He has tried more than 25 jury trials to verdict and has appeared in all of Delaware’s state and federal courts.

  • Former Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery

    Joe presided over a number of high-profile disputes during his service as Vice Chancellor and is a well-known and well-respected figure in the Delaware legal community and nationally among corporate governance scholars and practitioners.

  • Former Judge of the Delaware Superior Court

    Joe presided over several complex multi-jurisdictional class actions and was instrumental in creating the Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division.

Joseph R. Slights III, a former Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's litigation department, where his practice focuses on corporate governance counseling and litigation. He was sworn in as Vice Chancellor of the Court of Chancery in 2016 after he was nominated by then-Governor Jack Markell and unanimously confirmed by the state senate.

Prior to his appointment, Joe was a partner at the Delaware law firm Morris James, LLP where he practiced corporate and business litigation and chaired the firm's Alternative Dispute Resolution practice. Before that, he served a 12-year term as a judge on the Superior Court of Delaware, where he was instrumental in forming the court's Complex Commercial Litigation Division, a division of the court that specializes in adjudicating business disputes in jury and non-jury trials. Previously, Joe was a trial lawyer in the Delaware-based firm Sidney Balick PC (now Balick & Balick) and a corporate litigator in the Delaware-based firm Richards, Layton & Finger PC.

Joe has been an adjunct professor at Widener University School of Law, and currently is on the adjunct faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Law and Washington & Lee University School of Law. He has served as a delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Court Judges, and a liaison between the Judicial Division and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. He regularly serves as a mediator and arbitrator in high-stakes disputes.

Experience

Joseph R. Slights III, a former Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, is a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's litigation department, where his practice focuses on corporate governance counseling and litigation. He was sworn in as Vice Chancellor of the Court of Chancery in 2016 after he was nominated by then-Governor Jack Markell and unanimously confirmed by the state senate.

Prior to his appointment, Joe was a partner at the Delaware law firm Morris James, LLP where he practiced corporate and business litigation and chaired the firm's Alternative Dispute Resolution practice. Before that, he served a 12-year term as a judge on the Superior Court of Delaware, where he was instrumental in forming the court's Complex Commercial Litigation Division, a division of the court that specializes in adjudicating business disputes in jury and non-jury trials. Previously, Joe was a trial lawyer in the Delaware-based firm Sidney Balick PC (now Balick & Balick) and a corporate litigator in the Delaware-based firm Richards, Layton & Finger PC.

Joe has been an adjunct professor at Widener University School of Law, and currently is on the adjunct faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Law and Washington & Lee University School of Law. He has served as a delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Court Judges, and a liaison between the Judicial Division and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. He regularly serves as a mediator and arbitrator in high-stakes disputes.

Focus Areas
Recent Insights
News Articles
28 Wilson Sonsini Attorneys Named to 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America
On September 6, 2024, Lawdragon named 28 Wilson Sonsini attorneys to its 2025 edition of “Leading Litigators in America.” The lawyers featured in the guide represent the best litigators in the U.S.– in antitrust, intellectual property, white collar and investigations, securities and corporate governance litigation, and a vast array of class actions, product liability and other complex civil litigation. To create this list, Lawdragon weighed nominations, independent research, and views of peers.
Learn More
Alerts
Recent Delaware Law Developments and Proposed Legislative Responses
The last several months have marked an extremely busy time in Delaware corporate law, with regard to decisions out of the Delaware courts, proposed legislative responses, and shifting market practices. In recent weeks in particular, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling addressing controlling stockholder conflicts of interest that is important for companies with significant stockholders. The Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association (the DSBA) has also proposed an extensive set of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the DGCL) that address several recent cases, particularly relating to mergers and acquisitions and stockholder agreements. Those amendments still must be adopted by the Executive Committee of the DSBA, enacted by the Delaware legislature, and signed by the Delaware Governor before they become law. This alert is designed to provide an overview of the most pertinent information about these developments.
Learn More
View All
Recent Events
Speaking Engagements
ABA Business Law Hybrid Section Annual Meeting 2022
Our first Hybrid Section Annual Meeting allows you to join in person in Washington D.C. or virtually from wherever you may be. Join business law professionals from around the world for three days of learning, connecting, and collaborating. Whether you attend in person or online, registration is completely free for Business Law Section members.
Learn More
WSGR logo
Copyright © 2024 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. All Rights Reserved.