Once again, a newspaper in Europe is writing about America’s First State — that’s Delaware, in case you didn’t know. In my view, this continuous and suspiciously absurd, seemingly biased operation that Chancellor Bouchard conducts in his Chancery Court is again raising its ugly head on the world stage.
This time it is mostly about racial diversity in Delaware, and a Spanish newspaper is writing about it. Criticism is being leveled at both the Skadden Arps law firm and the Delaware Court system itself. Frankly, folks, I don’t care about forced diversity and I think affirmative action has gone way further than it ever should have. I am about hiring the most qualified individual, regardless of race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation. But it is clear that the issues with the Delaware courts go beyond Republican and Democrat. We may not all agree on the solution, but it sure seems like we can agree there’s something rotten going on in Delaware’s courts, when rich country club friends are scratching each other’s back with taxpayer money.
Folks, please read the article below and get the European perspective which is significant, because it indicates the long term, international effect that Bouchard’s subjective rulings have had on business and Delaware’s future as an international incorporation destination.
The lack of diversity sharpens the crisis in the Delaware judicial system
The criticisms that this state has received from the North American east coast, once known for its fiscal advantages and its ability to attract companies, have diminished its competitiveness.
The TransPerfect case is one of the most complex and media in recent years. As a result of this controversy, more than 600 jobs in Barcelona and 5,000 worldwide were endangered, and the serious shortcomings of the Delaware judicial system that directly affect their businesses and citizens have been revealed.
The criticisms that this State has received from the North American east coast, once known for its fiscal advantages and its ability to attract companies, have diminished its competitiveness. Delaware citizens have watched helplessly as Supreme Court Judge Andre Bouchard decreed in recent years the forced sale of a private company with benefits.
This puts jobs at risk and granted control of the group to the Skadden law firm for personal affinities by hiding the records of the TransPerfect case to public opinion, among others. These actions have caused a negative impact on the prestige of the Delaware judicial system among American companies, institutions, and professionals.
Protests for lack of diversity
The lack of diversity has opened a new chapter in the crisis of its judicial system. The problem has gained greater social prominence since the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation to Judge Bouchard and Robert Pincus, a partner of Skadden, who managed the process of selling the TransPerfect company for alleged discrimination during 2017 when the company was under your control.
Civil and social rights activists such as the Reverend Al Sharpton and Dale Dennis have charged against the lack of diversity and led marches in Delaware claiming that judicial estates are not filled only by white men. They have also undertaken a commission to study diversity in the judicial system of the State of Delaware to give notoriety to this problem.
Reverend Dennis has led a protest rally at the doors of the Senate. And it is that the Executive Committee of this House has approved that Judge Paul Fioravanti replace the magistrate Tamika Montgomery-Reeves as a member of the Supreme Court of Delaware, while Al Sharpton has been denied the opportunity to testify in said judicial hearing.
Skadden, in the center of criticism
The Skadden Law Firm has been one of the main focuses of social criticism. Despite making a flag of diversity in their communications, the reality is that 9 out of 10 associates of the firms are Caucasian.
Bouchard and Pincus come from this firm, both involved in the controversy of the TransPerfect case and investigated by the US Department of Justice for alleged racial discrimination. In this sense, Pincus acted as the judicial administrator of the company during the sale process and during his tenure, he reduced the benefits in a proportionate manner to minority employees. In parallel, it swelled the bill in favor of Skadden.
4.1 million sanction
The firm had to pay about 4.1 million euros of sanction in 2019 for breaching the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in the political lobbying works carried out with the convicted Paul Manafort. They are accused of benefiting the Government of Ukraine in 2012 and 2013 in favor of Viktor Yanukovych, president of that country from 2010 to 2014.
Sharpton and Dennis have affirmed by letter that, due to Skadden’s high weight in the State’s judicial system, it is precisely those who have the most obligation to promote diversity among their associates and the judges of the State. In the statement, they have also asserted that “the Delaware Court should resemble the people of Delaware, not just a minority.”