OPINION
Dear Friends,
The notorious Skadden Arps law firm, formerly involved in suspicious and illegal lobbying irregularities and fined by the U.S. Government, is now overshadowed by the accusations of unethical billing practices in little Delaware during and after the controversial TransPerfect case, and the news has reached a Spanish Newspaper! The article mistakenly refers to our Chancery Court as our Supreme Court, but you’ll get the drift.
The bottom line is that Chancellor Bouchard, in my view, possibly colluded with his former partner Robert Pincus and his former law firm Skadden Arps, allowing incessant billing with no itemization or accounting, and to rub salt in the wounds, wouldn’t even let CEO Philip Shawe see the bills or be given a reasonable explanation as to why. Such in your face arrogance of, in my opinion, the worst Chancellor in Delaware history, is beyond understanding. Finally after being sued in Federal Court, apparently Bouchard has relented.
Now Bouchard is resigning with 5 years left on his term, a good protection move, before possibly being accused of grotesque malfeasance. Folks, in my view, good riddance, and apparently there are some Spaniards who agree with me. It’s outrageous that it’s so bad that the news reached Barcelona, Spain, where TransPerfect has 600 employees. Please read the article in the Spanish newspaper, translated into English for your review, and send me your feedback.
Respectfully Submitted,
Judson Bennett, Coastal Network
CoastalNetwork.com
Skadden Arps Law Firm Suffers Legal Setback at Delware / CG
Skadden Arps law firm overshadowed by unethical billing practices
The Supreme Court of Delware, in the United States, has ruled that the law firm will have to make public the records of its invoices from the Transperfect case
JENNIFER MOLINA
19.01.2021 18:42 h. Updated: 19.01.2021 18:43 h.
3 min
The Supreme Court of Delware , in the United States , has ruled that the Skadden Arps law firm will have to make public the records of its bills from the Transperfect case . It is one of the most controversial business litigations in recent years, since thousands of workers were at risk around the world , and more than 600 in Barcelona .
This law firm, appointed by the judge to pilot the forced sale of Transperfect , has uploaded today more than 15 million dollars in advisory concepts in the sale of the technology multinational . These are unjustifiably expensive invoices (it amounts to 3.5 million dollars), which paradoxically have not stopped arriving after the sale of the company in 2017.
Suspicious billing practices
The handling of this case has not only overshadowed the name of Skadden Arps . It has also brought with it the good reputation of what was previously one of the leading states for business creation in the United States .
The alleged relationship between the Delaware Supreme Court with Judge André Bouchard at the head and the Skadden law firm with Robert Pincus as judicial administrator has undermined the credibility of the State judicial system and has negatively impacted on its public perception.
The change of course in the TransPerfect case decreed by the state judicial authority is joined by the vision of experts and citizen associations who consider that this firm could have articulated unethical billing practices during the management of the case .
Opaque methods
In this sense, the prestigious lawyer specialized in legal fees disputes and member of the Professional Responsibility Committee of the New York City Bar, David H. Paige , has described Skadden’s practices as “the continued charging of high amounts for objectionable services, coupled with unjustifiably high fees, inefficiencies and lack of transparency ”.
For his part, Chris Coffey, director of the Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware platform, assured that “Skadden has refused to apply the minimum standards of transparency protected by a judicial system that invites opaque practices and that often leaves Skadden to act at will. ”. Coffey concluded by noting that the association he represents will continue to “expose the reprehensible and unethical behavior of Skadden Arps until the courts place on them the responsibilities that TransPerfect employees deserve.”