Slights gets nod for Chancery Court post

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slights
Morris James photo.

Gov. Jack  Markell announced that he is nominating Joseph R. Slights, III, a former judge on  Delaware Superior Court, to become a Vice Chancellor in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

If confirmed by the Senate, Judge Slights will fill the vacancy that is resulting from the retirement of  John W. Noble later this month.

The vacancy on the nation’s leading business court is closely watched by the corporate legal community. Published reports had indicated that Slights and Delaware corporate attorney Joel Friedlander were finalists.

Slights was appointed to Superior Court in 2000 by then Governor Tom Carper.  During his 12-year term,  Slights presided over hundreds of criminal and civil litigation matters and was a part in the creation of the Superior Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division, a possible steppingstone to Chancery.

“The State of Delaware lost a great asset when Judge Slights retired from the Superior Court, and I am very pleased that we will have the opportunity to bring him back into the fold” said Markell.  “Joe is an immensely talented individual, with a strong knowledge of the law and a passion for public service.  If confirmed by the Senate, I am confident that his experience, work ethic and judicial temperament will go a long way to ensure that the Delaware Court of Chancery continues its well-deserved reputation as one of the greatest courts in the nation.”

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Slights was born in Dover and graduated from Dover High School in 1981.  He received an Associate’s degree from Wesley College in 1983, a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University in 1985, and graduated from the Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1988.

During law school Judge Slights spent a summer clerking at Schmittinger & Rodriguez, P.A. in Dover, Delaware.  After his graduation and admission to the Delaware bar,  Slights was a corporate and then a general trial litigator in Wilmington, where he worked for Richards, Layton & Finger P.A., The Law Offices of Sidney Balick P.A., and Morris, James, Hitchens & Williams LLP.

He was, most recently,  a commercial litigator and a partner at Morris, James, Hitchens & Williams LLP, Wilmington.

“My 12  years as a judge on the Superior Court were some of the best and most satisfying years of my professional life,” said Slights.  “I am grateful to Gov.  Markell for the opportunity to rejoin the Delaware judiciary.  If confirmed by the Senate, I very much look forward to bringing my experience and education to bear in a way that continues the long tradition of excellence fostered by the present and past Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of the Court of Chancery.”

The Senate is expected to consider this nomination when legislative session resumes in March,

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