Overview
Oderah C. Nwaeze is an experienced trial attorney who helps clients resolve complex corporate and commercial disputes. For over a decade, he has led or worked on matters involving shareholder rights; actions arising under Delaware General Corporation Law and Delaware common law; lawsuits stemming from mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions; business divorces; and breach-of-contract matters. To be specific, Oderah has experience with “books-and-records” demands and litigation, actions to compel an annual meeting, stockholder appraisal litigation, derivative lawsuits, and judicial dissolution of an entity.
Although Oderah’s practice traditionally has been focused on the Delaware Court of Chancery, he also represents clients in other state and federal courts, including the Delaware Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. And given the influence of Delaware law on other states, he handles similar matters in jurisdictions across the firm’s footprint.
Oderah also has experience representing clients in state and federal class actions, and regularly counsels financial institutions in consumer-related litigation, having developed an understanding of the legal and business sensitivities of banking clients through a secondment with TD Bank. He also has represented trustees of Delaware trusts in litigation before the Court of Chancery, as well as state and federal courts outside of Delaware.
In addition, Oderah takes pride in maintaining an active pro bono practice, which has included representing veterans of the U.S. armed forces in appeals of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ decisions on their entitlement to compensation for service-connected injuries, forming nonprofits and corporations for underprivileged entrepreneurs, and working with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
Oderah is a graduate of Emory University School of Law, where he was inducted into the Order of Emory Advocates, was a member of the Emory Mock Trial Society and president of the Student/Alumni Association, and served on the Emory Law Honor Court. He is also a graduate of Wake Forest University, where he was a member of the track and field team, and a recipient of the Joseph G. Gordon Merit Scholarship.
Personal Interests
Outside the office, Oderah enjoys sports, history, and spending time with friends and family.
Related Legal Services
Related Industries
Related Topics
Credentials
Bar Admissions
Delaware
Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Education
Emory University School of Law
J.D. Order of Emory Advocates (2011)
Wake Forest University
B.A.
Insights & Events
Latest
Insights
Other Perspectives
Publications
- Dealing with a Demand for Corporate Records
Republished in LexisNexis Practical Guidance, August 3, 2022 - Am I Covered? Understanding the Scope and Availability of Directors' and Officers' Indemnification and Advancement Rights
Republished in Wolters Kluwer’s Corporation Report Bulletin, Vol. XCIII No. 14, July 20, 2022 - Delaware Supreme Court Finds COVID-19 Business Adjustments Entitle Company’s Buyer to Terminate Contract
Republished in The Real Estate Finance Journal, April 2022 - The Basics of Business Divorce: The Legal and Practical Issues Business Partners Must Consider Before Getting Divorced
American Bar Association Business and Corporate Litigation Committee Newsletter, March 2022 - Remote Participation in Virtual Depositions, Hearings, Oral Arguments and Trial
LexisNexis, May 2021 - Public Benefit Corporations: There's No Public Benefit to Breaching Fiduciary Duties
Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review, vol. 8, no. 1 (2021) - Corporate Activism: Doing the Right Thing Without Breaching Fiduciary Duties
Co-author, ACC Docket, July 17, 2020 - Chancery Declines to Stay Action in Derivative Lawsuit Involving Special Litigation Committee
Delaware Business Court Insider, September 11, 2019 - Against the Backdrop of President-Elect Trump’s Carrier Deal: The Breach of Fiduciary Duty Exposure Caused by Directing a Subsidiary to Undertake a Transaction for the Parent Company’s Benefit
Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review, January 2017 - Congress’s Failure to Regulate Political Trading Is Going Unnoticed
Co-author, American Association for Justice: Business Torts Section, April 2012 - Missing an Opportunity to Protect Patients and Save Dollars
Co-author, American Constitution Society, October 18, 2011
Speaking Engagements
- Location, Location, Location: Mitigating Risk in Difficult Jurisdictions
Organizer/Panelist, National Bar Association, Commercial Law Section Conference, New Orleans, February 13, 2020 - Anatomy of a Trial CLE: “Defending and Taking Expert Witness Depositions
Presenter, Philadelphia, January 17, 2020 - First Party and Third-Party Indemnification
Speaker, Advanced Contract Clauses: Avoiding Boilerplate, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, July 18, 2019 - Delaware Summer Judicial Panel, featuring Third Circuit and Delaware Judges
Moderator, July 12, 2018. - Why Delaware? Here’s Why: Exploring Delaware’s Preeminent Legal Landscape
Bryn Mawr Trust Co., Seminar Series, March 2, 2017
Leadership & Community
Pro Bono
- Represented candidates for Delaware County Council at a bench trial concerning alleged deficiencies in the candidates’ ballot nomination petitions and errors in the filing of those petitions.
- Representing veterans of the U.S. armed forces in appeals of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ decisions regarding their entitlement to compensation for service-connected injuries.
- Represented underfunded entrepreneurs to form or dissolve limited liability companies and nonprofits, including with respect to applications for nonprofit tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
- Represented permanent residents of the United States of America in their applications to obtain citizenship.
Professional Associations
- Law360 — Delaware Editorial Advisory Board Member, 2022-present
- American Bar Association — Business Law Fellow, 2021-23
- American Bar Foundation — Fellow, 2023-present
- American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division — Associate Editor of the TYL Editorial Board, 2018-20
- University of Pennsylvania Inn of Court
- Delaware Barristers Association — President, 2019-20; Vice President, 2017-19
- Delaware State Bar Association
- Richard S. Rodney Litigation Inn of Court
- National Center for State Courts — Young Lawyers Committee, Co-chair, 2014-16
Civic Activities
- Delaware Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. — Board of Directors, 2019-present
- Bancroft — Board of Trustees, 2022-present; Compliance Committee, 2017-present
- Mother Teresa House Inc. — Board of Directors, 2019-present
- Emory Law School BLSA — Alumni Advisory Board, 2019-present
- Emory University School of Law — Alumni Council, 2020-24
- Campus Philly — Board of Directors, 2019-24
- Wake Forest University — Alumni Council, 2019-23
Honors
- The Legal Intelligencer — Professional Excellence Awards, “Lawyer on the Fast Track,” 2023
- The Philadelphia Tribune — Most Influential African Americans Awards, “10 Under 40,” 2020; “Most Influential,” 2021; “Leaders,” 2022-23
- Best Lawyers — “Ones to Watch,” 2021
- Philadelphia Business Journal — “Best of the Bar: Top Lawyers in Philadelphia” – Business Litigation, 2020
- Leadership Council on Legal Diversity — Fellow
- American Bar Association — Business Law Fellow, 2021-23
- American Bar Foundation — Fellow, 2023-present
- Philadelphia Business Journal — “40 Under 40,” 2020
- Super Lawyers — “Rising Star,” Business Litigation, 2020-24