OPINION
Dear Friends,
I don’t know about you, folks, but I can’t stop watching the news about this Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It’s obviously an important pandemic. Everything is closing down. And I’m an old person who is at higher risk. I am self-quarantining, but I don’t know if the whole country should be on hold. We’ll see what happens.
Do you know who doesn’t seem to have a problem with the Coronavirus? Chancery Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard’s former firm Skadden Arps, which looks to be in a hurry to get more money from TransPerfect.
Those lawyers at Skadden Arps — the law firm I’ve written about many times in the past few years as they’ve collected over $14 million from TransPerfect without ever producing an invoice — were trying to push forward for a hearing on March 30. How greedy, I say!
They petitioned Bouchard to have the hearing anyway, so they could get more legal fees. It is disgraceful — and even Bouchard, who used to work at Skadden and gives them their way on everything, had to relent this time. This needs to stop, folks. I think he should not be allowed to work with his former firm. There is nothing any reasonable person could conclude but that they are in cahoots, as I see it. Bouchard approved their fees without them having to show an invoice that they did the work.
That they could even ask for a hearing in the middle of this, just shows how seemingly corrupt the relationship is between them. No concern about reprimands.
See the story below from Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware.
Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and hear how you are doing! Please reach out and let me know. I’m thinking of each of you out there! Please stay safe and healthy!
Sincerely yours,
JUDSON Bennett-Coastal Network
Scroll down for the Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware story:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/citizens-pro-business-delaware-slams-140000844.html
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Slams Skadden Arps for Attempting to Hold Hearings During COVID-19 Outbreak
PR Newswire March 18, 2020
WILMINGTON, Del., March 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — As the State of Delaware continues taking drastic measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, today Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Campaign Manager Chris Coffey released the following statement:
“Across the country, we are seeing unprecedented measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. From San Francisco to Washington, DC, governments are closing schools, bars, restaurants, and even gyms to contain this virus while also doing everything possible to ensure that businesses and their workers are as unaffected by these actions as possible. In New York, the courts have even halted all eviction proceedings.
But of course, in Delaware’s elitist legal community, where nothing works as it’s supposed to, that’s not the case. Rather than follow the lead of governmental and judicial institutions across the nation, Skadden Arps – the firm that has already collected over $14 million in court-ordered legal fees for alleged work as TransPerfect’s custodian, had attempted to convince the court to proceed with a hearing on March 30th.
Documents filed with the Chancery Court by former Skadden Custodian, Robert Pincus, an old friend and partner of Chancellor Bouchard, and Jennifer Voss stated that “postponement of the hearing would only prolong this litigation and serve no good purpose.”
This is a staggeringly misguided argument that shows a concerning lack of awareness for the challenges facing average Americans with families to care for as we all grapple with how best to protect ourselves and our communities in the face of this pandemic. Only a group of highly privileged lawyers from a white-shoe firm like Skadden Arps, who obviously can afford full-time childcare, could be so deliberately ignorant of the impact of this crisis.
Skadden has never even produced an itemized invoice for the alleged secret services it claims to have performed, so why rush the court to hold a hearing during a sweeping public health crisis? It is clear that Skadden was deliberately attempting to prevent TransPerfect’s lawyers from preparing effectively during the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s a wildly unfair and reckless attempt to gain preferential treatment.
This was a bridge too far, even for Chancellor Bouchard, who normally grants any request from his former firm without question. Thankfully, Bouchard denied Skadden’s shameful objections and delayed the hearing. Though rulings for Skadden often appear predetermined and automatic under this Chancellor, TransPerfect attorneys still deserve the right to prepare and make arguments for appeal.”
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group made up of more than 5,000 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as concerned Delaware residents, business executives and others. They formed in April of 2016 to focus on raising awareness with Delaware residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders about the issue. While their primary goal of saving the company has been accomplished, they continue their efforts to fight for more transparency in the DelawareChancery Court.
For more information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware or to join the cause, visit DelawareForBusiness.org.