Albert H. Manwaring, IV is a partner in the Wilmington and Philadelphia offices of Pepper Hamilton LLP and a member of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. He manages the firm’s Delaware litigation in its Wilmington office.
Mr. Manwaring concentrates his practice in corporate and securities litigation, commercial and bankruptcy litigation, and toxic tort and products liability litigation. His experience includes appellate arguments before the Supreme Court of Delaware and federal courts of appeal, trials in complex corporate litigation, preliminary injunction actions, AAA arbitrations, class actions and military courts martials.
He has represented:
- a company and its inside directors through preliminary injunction and custodian hearings in private-equity fund litigation concerning shareholder rights to sell the company in the Court of Chancery
- board members in securities fraud litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
- former outside directors in shareholder derivative litigation challenging a buy-out of a private equity fund interest in the Court of Chancery
- former CEO and chair of the board in shareholder derivative litigation asserting fraud in connection with a sale of substantially all of the company’s assets in the Court of Chancery
- an international private equity fund and a restaurant chain in stockholder appraisal actions in the Court of Chancery
- former directors of a foreign company in an action for advancement, indemnity, and buy out of their interest in the company in the Court of Chancery
- a limited liability company and its managing member through a preliminary injunction hearing in a derivative and corporate dissolution action in the Court of Chancery
- a child clothing company in a board dispute concerning removal and election
- a director of a major league sports apparel company in a derivative action asserting “deepening insolvency” theories of liability
- a Fortune 500 chemical company in appeals to the Delaware Supreme Court in toxic tort actions
- a copying company in a preliminary injunction action for breach employment agreement, misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference with contractual relations, and unfair competition in the Court of Chancery
- a software development and consulting company through a jury trial in a misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference with contractual relations, civil conspiracy, fraud and contract dispute in connection with the sale of a business
- a Delaware internet bank in a preliminary injunction action in connection with a commercial real estate dispute in the Court of Chancery
- a bank in RESPA and FCRA actions in the U.S. District Court, District of Delaware
- a Delaware trust bank in connection with an employee fraud action in the Court of Chancery
- a Fortune 500 insurance company in insurance coverage actions
- a Fortune 500 telecommunications company in a preliminary injunction action in connection with billing for Internet services on local telephone bills in 13 states
- a Fortune 500 chemical company through a contested hearing in connection with a debtor’s § 363 motion to close its chemical plant
- a national recording label trade association in the defeat of a § 363 sale of assets of a debtor file-sharing service after a contested hearing against the debtor and an international music/publishing company
- an automobile financial company in a class action seeking income from excess insurance under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code
- a Fortune 500 commercial lighting manufacturer in the defeat of class certification in a consumer fraud/unfair trade practices class action
- a cranberry processor in an AAA arbitration under Article 2 - Sales of the Uniform Commercial Code
- a Fortune 500 chemical company in VCM, benzene and toxic tort litigation
- a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company in Lanham Act and products liability litigation
- a Fortune 500 record companies in copyright infringement litigation for music file sharing on the Internet in the U.S. District Court, District of Delaware.
Mr. Manwaring is a former Chair and current Council Member of the Litigation Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, a member of the Corporate Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, and a member of the Business and Corporate Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law.
During law school and for eight months after graduation, Mr. Manwaring was a member of the City of Boston’s law department and participated in the City’s defense of civil rights and tort actions. Following that, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Franklin S. Van Antwerpen in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Before he entered law school, Mr. Manwaring served on active duty as a field artillery officer with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and is a judge advocate general (JAG) officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, where he currently serves as the Staff Judge Advocate for a one-star Civil Affairs Command located in Fort Meade, Maryland.
