Tri, mounting it sideways wont stop the oil draining out on shutdown - bad for dry starts.
Another benefit of having the fittings on top is if you need to remove the cooler, the oil won't spill everywhere.
I do remove my cooler to drain during oil changes, so it's lucky I like working on my car lol.
There is quite a bit of oil in the hoses as well as the cooler.
There are readily available fittings to close off the hose ends to help avoid a mess when they are undone. I find having these is well worthwhile.
I'm surprised you haven't mentioned if you have worked out how much your new system add to your oil capacity - another benefit.