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Victor F. Battaglia, Sr., papers
Notifications
Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Victor F. Battaglia, Sr., is a Wilmington attorney specializing in general litigation, civil and criminal law, hospital litigation, legal and medical malpractice and discipline, and estate planning and probate law.
Victor F. Battaglia, the son of Italian immigrant parents, was born in Wilmington in 1932. A graduate of the Salesianum School in Wilmington, he attended the University of Delaware, earning a B.S. in Chemistry in 1955. He attended Georgetown University, and received his J.D. in 1958 and an L.L.M in 1959. Following his education, he returned to Delaware, being admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1960.
Battaglia has had a distinguished legal career, serving as attorney for the State Senate, City Solicitor for the City of Wilmington (1969-1973), as a member of numerous state committees and task forces, including counsel for the Governor’s Committee to Revise the Penal Code (1967-1972), Long Range Court Planning Committee (1971, 1997-1995), Delaware Supreme Court Advisory Committee on ABA Standards for Criminal Justice (1973), Advisory Committee on the Rules of the Delaware Supreme Court (1974), Delaware Criminal Code Revision Committee, and Judicial Nominating Commission of the State of Delaware (1977-1983). He founded a private practice, Biggs and Battaglia, with attorney John Biggs in 1968.
Other professional activities include membership to the Delaware State Bar Association (Vice President, 1977-1978; President, 1979-1980), American Bar Association (State Bar Representative, 1987-1991, State Representative to the ABA House of Delegates, 1991-1995), American Judicature Society, Board of Bar Examiners of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware (1975-1981; Chair, 1982-1984), American College of Trial Lawyers, the Supreme Court Historical Society, Co-Chair for the Delaware Combined Campaign for Justice (1999) and a member of Stand Up For What’s Right and Just (Secretary/Treasurer, 2001-2009; Board of Directors, 2003-2009).
In addition to his legal practice, Battaglia has served as a “lawyer for lawyers,” representing other attorneys and judges in need of legal or professional assistance, being active with the Board of Professional Responsibility and the Professional Guidance Committee, two groups which support the professional and personal conduct of members of the legal profession. Battaglia was also active in civil rights in Delaware. During the 1968 Wilmington riots, Battaglia was one of a number of lawyers to provide legal assistance to Wilmington citizens in need of immediate representation. Because of these contributions, he was honored in 1994 by the Delaware Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Battaglia has been outspoken on numerous legal and social issues, including education, malpractice, professional ethics and prison reform.
Battaglia has been involved in a number of public and charitable organizations, most notably the American Heart Association, the Delaware Art Museum and the United Way.
Delaware Bar Foundation. “Delaware Lawyer- The Delaware Bar Salutes A Great Generation.” Delaware Lawyer, Winter 2001. Accessed December 5, 2017. http://delawarebarfoundation.org/delawyer/Volume19_Number4_Winter2001.pdf (accessed December 5, 2017). “John Biggs III.” Chandler Funeral Homes and Crematory. http://hosting-1611.tributes.com/obituary/show/John-Biggs-85600922 (accessed December 7, 2017). Ryan, Joseph. “Compassion a goal for trial lawyer honored by St. Thomas More Society.” The Dialog. http://thedialog.org/compassion-a-goal-for-trial-lawyer-honored-by-more-society/ (accessed December 5, 2017). “Victor F. Battaglia.” Lawyers.com. https://www.lawyers.com/wilmington/delaware/victor-f-battaglia-342346-a/ (accessed December 5, 2017). Information derived from the collection.
The Victor F. Battaglia, Sr., papers, spanning from 1981-2012, contains correspondence, reports, notes, legal documents, board and committee meeting minutes, articles, speeches, prepared remarks and lecture notes documenting his professional activity, public activity and charitable work. The collection is divided into two series.
Series I, Professional Activity, documents Battaglia's public appearances and lectures, legal issues of great importance to Battaglia, including proposed legislative initiatives to the Delaware General Assembly, and working files for numerous professional organizations and committees to which Battaglia was a member.
Series II, The second series, Public Activity, documents Battaglia's charitable works unrelated to his legal career.
- Boxes 1-2: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center cartons
- Box 3: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center cartons (6 inches)
- Box 4: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxes (1 inch). Box is stored in the Vault.
Gift of Victor F. Battaglia, Sr., April 2012
Processed by Lora Davis, 2012. Additional processing and encoding by John Caldwell, November 2017.
People
Organization
- University of Delaware
- Delaware. General Assembly
- University of Delaware. John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance
- Delaware Combined Campaign for Justice
- Delaware. Board of Bar Examiners
- Stand Up for What is Right and Just
- American Bar Association
- Delaware. Supreme Court
- Delaware State Bar Association
- American College of Trial Lawyers
- Medical Society of Delaware
- American Bar Association. House of Delegates
- United Way Institute
- Delaware Art Museum
- National Business Institute
- Supreme Court Historical Society
- American Judicature Society
Subject
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2017 November 29
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research. Folder 29 in subseries I.B., Legal Issues, is restricted. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/ for assistance.
- Use Restrictions
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Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec
Collection Inventory
This series documents Battaglia's public appearances and lectures, legal issues of great importance to Battaglia, including proposed legislative initiatives to the Delaware General Assembly, and working files for numerous professional organizations and committees to which Battaglia was a member.
Biographical information, lecture notes, speeches, articles and related resources.
Correspondence, memoranda, publications, court documents and working files related to Battaglia's work as a lawyer, including proposed legislative initiaives presented to the Delaware General Assembly.
Correspondence, meeting minutes and working files for national and state professional organization. This subseries also includes information on Battaglia's relationship with the University of Delaware, particularly in the establishment of the Corporate Governance Center.
This series documents Battaglia's charitable works unrelated to his legal career, most notably the United Way of Delaware and the Delaware Art Museum.