A partner in the Paul, Weiss Litigation Department, Matt Stachel focuses his practice on Delaware corporate and commercial litigation. He has extensive experience litigating in the Delaware Court of Chancery as well as in Delaware federal and state courts, both at the trial and appellate levels. Stachel’s practice encompasses a range of litigation matters, including actions involving the fiduciary duties of directors, officers and controlling stockholders; mergers and acquisitions litigation; stockholder derivative litigation and securities fraud litigation; stockholder demands and Section 220 actions; and other corporate governance disputes. He also regularly advises major public companies, boards of directors and special board committees, and private equity investors and their portfolio companies on their rights and obligations under Delaware law.
Stachel has represented clients in state and federal courts across the country, achieving favorable outcomes. Among others, his recent experience includes representing:
- International Construction Products (ICP), a now-defunct heavy construction equipment importer, in securing a $100 million jury verdict in the District of Delaware in its nearly decade-long lawsuit against industry giant Caterpillar.
- The Kraft Heinz Company and certain current or former Kraft Heinz officers and directors in winning the dismissal, with prejudice, of a stockholder derivative lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking to reopen claims related to a $1.2 billion stock sale by 3G Capital affiliates, which had been previously dismissed in 2021 and affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court in 2022; and in winning the dismissal, with prejudice, of a stockholder derivative lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery over alleged misleading statements about the company’s performance and cost-cutting efforts.
Stachel’s additional experience in stockholder derivative and securities fraud litigation includes representing:
- Alexion Pharmaceuticals, the country’s then-largest orphan drug company, in a federal derivative action alleging misrepresentations and omissions about Soliris—a drug used to treat certain rare blood disorders.
- Snap, Inc., and several of its directors and executives, in stockholder derivative actions concerning Snap’s preparation for Apple’s rollout of new privacy changes.
- World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (“WWE”) in connection with stockholder derivative litigation alleging that WWE made misleading statements regarding the status of WWE’s media rights agreements in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Stachel’s additional experience in mergers & acquisitions litigation and other transaction-related disputes includes representing:
- the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Pattern Energy Group Inc., a California-based independent power company, in litigation challenging Pattern Energy’s $6.1 billion go-private sale to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
- Advance, a privately-owned investment company, and several current and former officers and directors in a stockholder class action brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims related to the $43 billion merger between AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., which Advance founded and is a majority shareholder of.
- Virtu Financial in a stockholder Section 220 books and records action seeking information concerning certain distributions made by Virtu to certain stockholders.
