Joseph J. Farnan Jr.

Mr. Farnan’s practice focuses on complex commercial matters, including Chapter 11 proceedings, securities litigation, antitrust litigation, and patent litigation. Mr. Farnan is often selected to serve as an Independent Director or a Trustee of businesses, including FTX.com,, Central European Distribution Corp. (Russian Standard Vodka), Takata, Maxus Energy and Zohar Funds. Mr. Farnan also serves as an arbitrator and mediator in complex matters which have included the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Nortel Bankruptcy distribution dispute. In the Dodgers’ matter, Mr. Farnan was first appointed to mediate issues and then was chosen by the parties to conduct a sale of the team and arbitrate any disputes that might arise between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Major League Baseball which resulted in the Dodgers being sold for over 2 billion dollars – the largest sum paid at that time for a professional sports franchise in North America. In the Nortel matter, Mr. Farnan served as the mediator for the Nortel cross-border bankruptcy which ultimately concluded with an agreement for the allocation of over seven billion dollars.

Mr. Farnan served as a United States District Judge for the District of Delaware from 1985 to 2010. He served as Chief Judge from 1997-2001. During his tenure, Mr. Farnan presided over hundreds of bench and jury trials involving patents and complex commercial disputes. Representative civil cases presided over by Mr. Farnan include:

• In re Intel Corp Microprocessor Antitrust Litigation
  Antitrust litigation reported as the largest antitrust case in U.S. history.
• Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Shreveport v. Coca-Cola Co.
  Bench trial concerning formulation and pricing of Diet Coke
• Tracinda Corp. v. DaimlerChrysler AG
  Bench trial involving validity of merger between Chrysler and Daimler-Benz AG
• Pfizer, Inc. v. Ranbaxy Laboratories, Ltd.
  Bench trial in ANDA case involving the $12 billion a year cholesterol reducing drug Lipitor®
• Lucent Technologies, Inc. v. Extreme Networks, Inc.
  Litigation involving patents for data networking technologies

Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Mr. Farnan was appointed to several positions in government, including United States Attorney for the District of Delaware from 1981 to 1985.

Education

• King's College, B.A., 1967
• University of Toledo College of Law, J.D., 1970
  • University of Toledo Law Review

Bar Admissions

• Delaware
• New Jersey