Delaware's Guidance: Ensuring Equity for the Modern Witenagemot

Abstract:     
This Article examines some of the extrajudicial activities in which members of the Delaware judiciary engage to minimize the systemic indeterminacy resulting from the resolution of economic disputes by a court of equity. These activities come in three unique forms: 1) the frequent speeches and articles offered by the judges about the direction and patterns they perceive in case law from their unique vantage point at the center of the maelstrom; 2) the analysis in the judges' opinions that, though technically dicta, provides useful insight into how open questions not part of the ruling might be expected to play out in the future; and 3) the roles the judges often undertake as formal policy makers, as members of committees of the American Bar Association (ABA) and other model rule making bodies. The result is an appreciation for how Delaware's judiciary offers unique insight, beyond the four corners of issued holdings, to the counselors of the Boards of Directors which govern the collective enterprise of our market system.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 32

Keywords: Anglo-Saxon law, corporate, corporation, Delaware Court of Chancery, dicta, English High Court of Chancery, jurisprudence, Parliament, Witan Council

JEL Classification: K22

Accepted Paper Series