Profile: Dennis J Block

Corporate Governance

Biography: Corporate Governance

A partner in Cadwalader's corporate/M&A department, Mr Block focuses on mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions, corporate governance, and securities law. He represents public companies, entrepreneurs and investment and commercial banks in connection with issues of big public interest and debate, specifically: Texaco regarding discrimination matters; Cendant directors regarding board liability; the Business Roundtable regarding corporate governance issues; and Merrill Lynch regarding Orange County.

Mr Block's practice includes the general representation of many large publicly held corporations, including Bear Stearns, Pfizer, Merrill Lynch, CBS, Telstra, Massachusetts Mutual and Six Flags. Mr Block has handled numerous mergers and acquisitions on behalf of acquirers, targets, and investment banks. His transactions range from proxy contests, joint ventures, self-tender offers and spin-offs to other forms of corporate restructurings. Matters include: Pfizer's sale of its consumer business to Johnson & Johnson; the Procter & Gamble Company's acquisition of the Gillette Company; Pfizer's acquisition of Pharmacia; and Vivendi Universal's acquisition of Houghton Mifflin, among many others.

Mr Block has been co-chairman and a member of the council of the committee on corporate counsel, litigation section, of the American Bar Association. He co-wrote The Business Judgment Rule: Fiduciary Duties of Corporate Directors (5th ed, 1998 and supplement, 2000), and Securities Law Techniques (A Sommer ed, 1985). He is co-author of a monthly column in the New York Law Journal, co-editor of The Corporate Counsellor's Deskbook (5th ed 1999), and a member of the editorial boards of several legal publications.

Mr Block is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, where he now teaches Advanced Corporate Law as an adjunct professor.