Andrew G.T. Moore II, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware and a leading figure in Delaware corporate law cases, died on Monday. He was 83 years old. The announcement was made by Gibbons PC.
Moore joined Gibbons in 2011 to help the firm expand its Delaware practice.
Moore had extensive experience in corporate litigation in Delaware, which he practiced both before and after his appointment to the state’s Supreme Court by Governor Pierre S. duPont IV in 1982.
A release from the Delaware judiciary stated that “Justice Moore was an iconic figure in American corporate law. At a critical time when Delaware law needed to innovate to address the takeover boom of the 1980s, Justice Moore crafted opinions that secured Delaware’s role as the forum where all parties knew they would get a fair hearing and a sensible result at the speed demanded by the business world. To this day, his decisions in Unocal Corp. v. Mesa Petroleum Co. and Aronson v. Lewis are required reading in any corporate law class in the United States. And his commitment to improving our judiciary in areas like family and criminal law continues to pay off in ways that still benefit Delawareans.”
Moore was not reappointed to the high court by then-Gov. Tom Carper. Moore later stated that he believed his removal to have been politically motivated. Carper’s decision also led to questions about whether the reputation of the state’s corporate law system might have been tainted. Such concerns have continued to this day, but now center on whether the state now has “activist courts” that deal too often with social issues.
Moore later helped guide the Newark, NJ-based Gibbons’ growth in Wilmington, through business and commercial litigation in Delaware state and federal courts, corporate litigation in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, insolvency matters, and a wide variety of corporate transactions and related opinions and advice.
Moore was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and graduated from Tulane University with degrees of Bachelor of Business Administration and Juris Doctor. He was admitted to practice in the states of Delaware and Louisiana and before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fifth Circuits, U.S. District Courts for the District of Delaware and Eastern District of Louisiana, and U.S. Court of Military Appeals.
Prior to becoming a Supreme Court Justice, Moore practiced law in Wilmington, primarily in the field of corporate litigation, as a partner in the firm of Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP.
After his time on the court, he served as senior managing director of the international investment banking firm of Dresdner, Kleinwort, Wasserstein, Inc., working in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and advising special committees of boards of directors. He was a member of the boards of directors of America Lawyer Media Holdings, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary, America Lawyer Media, Inc., publisher of Corporate Control Alert and numerous legal journals, including The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, and similar local publications.
Moore was the longtime Distinguished Professorial Lecturer at Stetson University College of Law, where he taught a course in advanced corporation law and which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) in 2011.
He also taught courses and served distinguished professorships in the areas of corporate governance, corporation law, corporate finance, business associations, and business ethics at Tulane University School of Law, Washington University School of Law, University of Iowa College of Law, St. Louis University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and Widener University School of Law.
Other activities included membership on the Delaware Board of Accountancy, Delaware Board of Bar Examiners, Delaware Judicial Nominating Commission, New Castle County Historic Review Board, and the Board of the Wilmington Music School, and he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill. He was also a former Vice President of the Delaware State Bar Association and a member of its Executive Committee.
Moore is survived by his wife Betsy, a daughter Marianne Moore Viceconte and her husband Chris Viceconte, two grandchildren, a number of nieces and nephews and a sister Hetsy Pickard (Kevin).
A Memorial Service will be held Dec. 19, 2018 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1108 N. Adams St., Wilmington. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to the Pilot School, 208 Woodlawn Rd., Wilmington, DE 19803.
