Page 8 - Better Business Bureau

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
David Stratton
David Stratton knows lawyers don’t always have the best reputations. He understands people get much of their wrong impressions about his profession from watching television. And he doesn’t really mind.
“I’ve certainly heard my share of lawyer jokes,” he says. “And I have to admit that a lot of them are funny.”
Initially, Stratton—a partner at the Wilmington law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP—didn’t plan on becoming a lawyer. He went to Gettysburg College as a history major and figured he’d end up teaching. But, as a sophomore he switched to pre-law and eventually graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
“The more I studied law, the more intrigued I became by it and the possibilities,” Stratton says. “I always wanted to be in a profession that could have a positive impact on people, and I guess that’s why I wanted to be a teacher at the beginning.”
Even when he became a lawyer, Stratton wasn’t sure which direction he wanted to take. He started as an associate at the firm of Richards, Layton & Finger LLP and did a lot of work with banks and other financial institutions and that eventual- ly led him to become a specialist in bankruptcy cases.
One of his more interesting cases came in 2002, when his firm represented record companies—including industry gi- ants A&M Records and Geffen Records—in their suit against Napster, the digital music giant that was eventually found guilty of copyright infringement.
“That was certainly one of our more high-profile cases and one of the most interesting,” Stratton says. “It was actually kind of fun—it was certainly more exciting and a little jazzier than most cases I deal with.”
Stratton enjoys practicing in Wilmington because of its corporate connections, which bring other interesting cases to his firm. But he also says there’s a tight-knit community of lawyers who usually remain civil even if their cases are contentious.
“It’s a great area to practice law and you don’t have to be in New York to have important and interesting cases come your way,” he says. “In a place like New York there is no way you can have the personal contacts that we have in Delaware. It’s just a great place to work.”
Stratton has enjoyed an affiliation with Better Business Bureau Serving Delaware for more than a quarter century.
“My relationship with the BBB over the last 25 years or so has allowed me to help, in some small way, an organization that provides tremendously valuable services to Delaware businesses and consumers," he says. "In doing so, I had the privilege of working with very talented people at the BBB and those representing many Delaware businesses. It has been re- warding and a great privilege."
For more information, call (866) 737-7372 or visit www.pepperlaw.com.
Pepper Hamilton LLP
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF DELAWARE
2016
FUN FACTS
11,368
# OF DELAWARE BUSINESSES WE REPORT ON
B8 I www.DelawareToday.com I APRIL 2017