Daniel Lionel Herrmann (June 10, 1913 – June 2, 1991) was an American lawyer, professor and community leader who served as a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1964 to 1973 and chief justice from 1973 to 1985. Herrmann was known for his contributions to judicial reform and was the first Jewish judge in Delaware. [2] [3] [4]
Herrmann was born on June 10, 1913, in New York City. When he was two, he and his family moved to Wilmington, Delaware. Herrmann graduated from Wilmington High School in 1931, the University of Delaware in 1935 and the Georgetown University Law Center in 1939. [5] [6]
Herrmann's first legal job after passing the bar was for Wilmington attorney Steward Lynch, for whom he worked until enlisting in the United States Army in 1942. In 1946, he was discharged as a major and served as an Assistant United States Attorney for three years until he was appointed to the Delaware Superior Court by Governor Elbert N. Carvel, taking office on January 12, 1951. Because the compensation was too low to pay for his sons' education, Herrmann resigned from that seat on April 15, 1958, to return to private practice with colleague William Duffy. In 1961, he made partner at Herrmann, Bayard, Brill & Russell and represented the State of Delaware in its acquisition of property for Interstate 95. [4] [5]
On December 13, 1964, Carvel nominated Herrmann to succeed Chief Justice Charles L. Terry, Jr., but this move was strongly opposed by supporters of Daniel F. Wolcott, who instead received the appointment, with Herrmann becoming a justice. However, there was no opposition when Governor Sherman W. Tribbitt nominated Herrmann to succeed Wolcott, on August 9, 1973. [2] Herrmann served in that capacity until his retirement, on July 31, 1985. [4]
During his twelve-year tenure, Herrmann was an advocate of modifying and uniting the courts of Delaware.
By 1978, the State of Delaware had a sharp increase in case filings and the waiting period between a civil case briefing and the time it was taken under submission by the court. Also, the Delaware Supreme Court was the only court of last resort in the United States with fewer than five members. In his June State of the Judiciary Address (which he established for chief justices), Herrmann called attention to the expansion of the Delaware Supreme Court. In October, the court expanded from three justices to five when Governor Pierre S. du Pont IV announced that William T. Quillen and Henry R. Horsey would fill the two additional seats. [4] [5]
Herrmann's other court reform achievements include: initiating a yearly report on the state of the judiciary; prioritizing the disposition of criminal cases; ensuring that all judicial opinions show the time period between submission and decision; enlarging courthouse facilities; installing computer-based information systems; additional judge appointments and administrative personnel; increasing judicial compensation; establishing the Long Range Courts Planning Committee, Delaware Judicial Nominating Commission and Office of Disciplinary Counsel; amending the rules of the courts; creating public education programs concerning Delaware's legal system; and opening the Delaware Supreme Court to photographic and news coverage, all of which facilitated more uniformity within the State's system. [4] [5]
Herrmann and the court's opinion in Weinberger v. UOP, Inc. (1983) held that the terms of a cash-out merger must meet the test of fairness: a fair transaction price based on the stock price of the company for sale and fair dealing, or fair merger proceedings, in which fiduciary duty is upheld. [7]
In the 1985 corporate law case Smith v. Van Gorkom , the court held that a business is not protected under the business judgment rule if its directors neglect to make informed business decisions, thus breaching their fiduciary duty under Delaware corporate law. The landmark decision was met with criticism nationwide. [8]
In 1940, Herrmann married Zelda Kluger, with whom he was an active leader of the Jewish community. They had two sons: Stephen and Richard. Three days after their 40th wedding anniversary, Zelda died of cancer at the General Division Hospital. [5] [6] [9] In 1985, Herrmann married Millicent "Mitzi" Herrmann. [1]
After retiring from his role as chief justice, Herrmann became a distinguished visiting professor at the Widener University School of Law. The new courses he created aimed to teach law students alternative procedures for resolving disputes and how to be better advocates in appellate court proceedings. [4]
Herrmann died suddenly from a heart attack in the Philadelphia International Airport in 1991. [2] In 1996, the New Castle County Courthouse was renamed the Daniel L. Herrmann Courthouse in his honor. [10] After the courts moved to a newly constructed courthouse the old courthouse was sold to a credit card company and his name was removed from the building.
Charles Layman Terry Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served as Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court as well as Governor of Delaware.
Josiah Oliver Wolcott was an American lawyer, politician and judge, from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware, U.S. Senator from Delaware, and Chancellor of Delaware.
The Delaware Supreme Court is the sole appellate court in the United States state of Delaware. Because Delaware is a popular haven for corporations, the Court has developed a worldwide reputation as a respected source of corporate law decisions, particularly in the area of mergers and acquisitions.
Daniel John Layton served on the Delaware Supreme Court as Chief Justice from 1933 to 1945. He had earlier served as an attorney general of Delaware from late 1932 until his nomination. He was a native of Sussex County, Delaware and the son of U.S. Representative Caleb R. Layton.
Thomas Lee Ambro is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
In United States corporation and business association law, a duty of care is part of the fiduciary duty owed to a corporation by its directors. The other aspects of fiduciary duty are a director's duty of loyalty and (possibly) duty of good faith.
Collins Jacques Seitz was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Louis Lorenzo Redding was a prominent lawyer and civil rights advocate from Wilmington, Delaware. Redding, the first African American to be admitted to the Delaware bar, was part of the NAACP legal team that challenged school segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was 96 when he died at a hospital in Lima, Pa.
James Miller Tunnell Jr. was the Democratic Party nominee for United States Senator from Delaware in the 1966 United States Senate election in Delaware. He was the son of Senator James M. Tunnell. He served as a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1951 to 1954. In 1951, when Delaware opted to establish a Supreme Court, Governor Elbert N. Carvel offered appointments to both Tunnell and Daniel F. Wolcott. According to Carvel, each "declared their unwillingness to serve if the other was chief justice", leading Carvel to appoint both as associate justices, and Clarence A. Southerland as chief justice.
John Biggs Jr. was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc., 506 A.2d 173, was a landmark decision of the Delaware Supreme Court on hostile takeovers.
Randy James Holland was a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. He was appointed to that office in 1986 and was the youngest person to serve on the Delaware Supreme Court. He retired from the Court in 2017. His seat was taken by Justice Gary Traynor.
Eugene Norman Veasey is a former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.
Clarence A. Southerland was Attorney General of Delaware from 1925 to 1929, and chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1951 to 1963, the first to hold the latter role in the newly established restructuring of the Delaware judiciary.
Howard Wellington Bramhall Sr. was an American judge who served as a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1954 to 1962 and as Vice Chancellor of the State from 1951 to 1954.
James Burton Carey was a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1963 to 1974. He died in 1979.
Henry Ridgely Horsey was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1978 to 1994. During his tenure as a justice, Horsey authored more than 200 published opinions.
The Daniel L. Herrmann Courthouse is a building in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. Built in 1916, the former courthouse is currently occupied by Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, a Wilmington-based law firm.
Tamika Renee Montgomery-Reeves is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She previously served as an Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires |magazine=
(help)