Under the leadership of John Carney, Delaware’s government has been criticized for lack of openness and transparency in its decision-making process. This has opened the door to many corruption incidents over the years. One such case is the controversial corrupt land deal that implicates the governor’s administration for selling public land to a political insider for pennies on the dollar.
According to records, the state of Delaware purchased 11 acres of land during the 2008 economic crash for 2.78 million dollars, and in 2018, the land was sold to John Paradee for $275,000. This led to the state losing $2,525,000 of tax-payers’ money in the deal. According to the Freedom Information Act, this transaction did not follow due process. Six months after the sale, State senator Trey Paradee, John Paradee’s brother, passed a tax law, making the property more valuable. Two weeks later, the 11-acre land plus the adjacent 10 acres were put on the market for $6.5 million. John Paradee is a well-known political insider- a major supporter and fundraiser of Delaware’s Governor John Carney. He is also Jackie Paradee Mette’s brother, who is Carney’s current legal counsel, and former campaign finance director during the 2016 elections.
The Sale Process Didn’t Follow Procedure
This deal violated Title 17, Chapter 1, section 137(b) 3, of the U.S Code which states that all public land sales must be done at a public auction, and a notice must be given. The Code also states that public land should be sold at no less than 85% of its evaluation value at the time of sale. A public auction was not held during the sale and the public was not notified. The land was also sold at a lower price than its appraisal value. After an evaluation by the Delaware Department of Transportation, the property met only two out of the five required characteristics for minimal independent utility, and it was reported to have potential for commercial development.
According to emails acquired by the Freedom Information Act, full information was not disclosed to an adjacent property owner interested in purchasing the land. In the email exchange between John Paradee and an employee of the transportation department overseeing the transaction, the employee was worried that what they were doing was not right and could land them in trouble.
Introduction of the Tax Subsidy
Six months after the transaction, Senator Trey Paradee passed the lodging tax bill in the state’s General Assembly. This legislation increased the Delaware lodging tax from 8% to 11%. The extra tax proceeds were supposed to fund the state’s Turf Sports Complex, where John Paradee was a board member. The Sports Complex was already leasing an 85-acre land from Kent County for only one dollar and was partially guaranteed a $20 million construction bond. While there are many questions still left unanswered from this controversial land deal, it’s clear that it happened under the leadership of Governor John Carney.
Cambridge Analytica Showcases Corruption in the United States
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is a perfect example of corruption in the United States. At the center of this scandal: data mishandling, involving data company Cambridge Analytica and social powerhouse Facebook. After an expose uncovered Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in wrongfully handling user data, CEO Alexander Nix was suspended from his job. The exposed report revealed that the data of 87 million Americans was wrongfully and illegally obtained by Cambridge Analytica in favor of Trump’s election campaign. Many Americans were shocked and disgruntled with the revelation that their personal data was harvested from Facebook, a major social media platform. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before congress to respond to the scandal.
Facebook’s Involvement in the Cambridge Analytica Scandal
In the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the consulting firm accessed unauthorized data from users by using a software application through an available Facebook quiz that was deployed on the social platform. The data collected by Cambridge was said to build voters’ profiles, but was instead utilized for hyper-targeting of individuals. With tens of millions of Americans affected by the breach, this scandal could not simply be swept under the rug. Zuckerberg seemed to be notably quiet after the scandal surfaced, but later appeared before congress to answer questions about the mishandling of American’s personal information. Data privacy remains a hot topic, and many Americans are concerned about how their data online is handled.
Facebook: Selling Out the American People?
There’s no doubt that Cambridge Analytica’s actions were a main contributor to the influencing of the 2016 election and other political decisions globally, as they harvested personal information to build highly-specific demographic profiles. However, the majority of the data mishandling fell on social monolith Facebook, as Americans place their trust in the platform to securely withhold their data.Naturally, Facebook faced criticism for allowing data harvesting to happen. Many people looked to Zuckerberg to make a statement; others simply deleted their Facebook profiles. At the end of the day, Facebook was fined $5 billion, though this is merely a slap on the wrist for a CEO with a net worth of $96 billion. But many still claim that Facebook ultimately sold out the American people.
Data and Corruption in the United States
Corruption in mishandling personal information will only become more prevalent as people continue to use social media platforms and companies continue to act in their own self-interest. To make matters more complex, President Trump’s former Aide Stephen Banon worked as a board member of Cambridge Analytica, showcasing a conflict of interest in the case.But, protecting user data is not as simple as it may seem. While some people urge the government to regulate massive companies like Facebook, others would rather let the free market take control. Will these large companies do the right thing and guarantee users of their privacy?
Coastal Network
The Coastal Network is an outlet committed to providing a voice against corruption and advocating for transparency in the Delaware court system, business world and beyond.For more on corruption in the United States, including the Delaware Court system, visit www.coastalnetwork.com
Delaware-Based Law Firm Skadden Arps Continues to Make Negative Headlines
One of the most influential corporate law firms in the nation is also heavily involved in Delaware’s court system affairs. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is a corporate law giant that many Delaware citizens and working class Americans are growing wary of as conflict of interest issues continue to arise. The Chancery Court continues to face scrutiny after years of corruption and scandals that involved associates of Skadden Arps.
About Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Skadden Arps was founded in New York in 1948. In the decades since, the firm’s Litigation Group has grown to employ approximately 600 attorneys worldwide. The firm’s grip on Delaware in particular has a lengthy history—it was the first national firm to establish a presence in the state almost 40 years ago. This undoubtedly contributes to the strong influence the firm holds over the Delaware Court of Chancery; which has contributed to an abundance of conflicts of interest within the Delaware court system.Delaware Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard and his court-appointed Custodian, Robert Pincus, have graced many headlines in recent years. Both Bouchard and Pincus worked for Skadden Arps, leading many to accuse Bouchard and the Chancery Court of conflict of interest. Chancellor Bouchard has been accused of being biased and bad for business while overstepping constantly at the expense of working class Americans.
Skadden Arps and WeWork
Another case bringing negative attention to Chancellor Bouchard and the Delaware Court of Chancery is the WeWork suit against SoftBank. In October 2019, SoftBank agreed to buy $3 billion of WeWork shares, then canceled the deal. After the deal fell through, WeWork’s valuation collapsed from $47 billion to about $8 billion. A special committee of WeWork directors sued SoftBank in the Delaware Chancery Court for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. By the time suit was filed, because of the massive amount of shares promised to be purchased by SoftBank initially, half of WeWork’s board was appointed by SoftBank. SoftBank, represented by Skadden Arps, is arguing that there is a conflict of interest regarding the board members in the committee suing SoftBank. Chancellor Bouchard allowed the appointment of new directors, siding with WeWork’s parent company. Yet again, both the Delaware Chancery Court and Skadden Arps are involved in a bizarre case making headlines.
Skadden Arps and Diversity Issues
Racial equity in America has been dominating discussions in recent months, forcing many companies and organizations to take a much-needed look at how they’ve handled diversity and equity in the workplace. Skadden Arps is no exception—the firm has faced scrutiny from many groups in recent months because of its lack of diversity. Civil rights advocate Al Sharpton has criticized Skadden over it’s lack of minority representation in its latest partner class. In a letter to Skadden, Sharpton notes: “Take a look at judges like Chancery Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard, or even retired Delaware Supreme Court Justice Leo Strine, where did they come from? Skadden Arps. One firm, Skadden Arps, has an especially significant impact on an entire state’s justice system. Therefore, Skadden Arps needs to lead the effort to more completely diversify the ranks of law firm partners and judges in this state.” Another group that has called out the firm over it’s lack of diversity is Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware. The group has noted that Skadden has just a handful of African American lawyers in a state that’s nearly 30 percent black. This statement came in response to statistics released by Skadden Arps highlighting the diversity, or lack thereof, within their own firm.
Skadden Arps and TransPerfect
The TransPerfect case with Skadden Arps is riddled with scandal and conflict of interest. Aside from the forced auction of the company by Chancellor Bouchard, he appointed his former Skadden associate, Robert Pincus, as custodian to the case. Since his appointment, Skadden has collected more than $14 million in court fees. Citizens for a Pro Business Delaware explained: “Since being appointed custodian of the company, Skadden has never produced an itemized invoice for the services it claims to have performed as the firm, led by Jennifer Voss and Bob Pincus, has already collected over $14 million in court-ordered legal fees from TransPerfect. That needs to change. Our members and TransPerfect’s employees deserve to know where that money has gone.”Chancellor Andre Bouchard is partially responsible for the abundance of legal fees, having issued a nearly $1,500 an hour no-bid contract for the case.
A Firm With a Negative Rap Sheet
Though Skadden Arps is one of the biggest corporate law firms in the nation, that doesn’t necessarily mean it adopts transparent practices. Current and former associates, such as Bouchard and Pincus, have been in headlines for bias and conflict of interest in cases such as TransPerfect and WeWork. The scandal extends far beyond the Delaware court system: Skadden made international headlines when the firm settled for more than $11 million to avoid a lawsuit by a former Ukrainian prime minister.
Coastal Network
The Coastal Network is an outlet committed to providing insight into Delaware’s court system, business, and beyond through transparency and honesty.For more on corruption in the United States, including the Delaware Court system, visit www.coastalnetwork.com
IMPORTANT !!!!!
I am asking you to click on this link and watch this video:
Please take a quick look and let me know what you think. I
am preparing a feedback piece. Send your comments as soon as you can, as the
response has been strong! I would like to thank the legislators who have
responded as well, and I want your voice to be heard too!
15 minutes into it you will see me asking a probing
question.
I believe that Delaware’s absolute, basic, economic, moral,
and ethical future is at stake here!
The link will take you to a video showing the beginning of an important movement! It started with a press conference (shown in the video) that is going to affect the future of Delawareans for years to come!
https://videopress.com/v/xHHMEsRd
I attended the press conference in front of the Court House
in downtown Wilmington, Delaware on July 10th. The “Citizens for Pro Business
Delaware” event was led by their Chairman, Chris Coffey.
Thank you for taking the time to view this important video.
https://videopress.com/v/xHHMEsRd
Your comments are welcome and appreciated!
JUDSON Bennett-Coastal Network
Folks, I have been proven right again and I will continue to be right about America’s First State, whose reputation is rapidly deteriorating starting with the very place where corporations of our country seek justice… our beloved Chancery Court! The Chancery Court now stinks from the very top, starting with its suspicious Chancellor, Andre Bouchard. He is supposed to be the leader of our esteemed court and should be held accountable for its success or failures. He should be the man solving problems, NOT creating them. Indeed, he should not be the CAUSE of the court’s trouble. I’m shaking my head in shame.It has been my opinion for years and continues to be my opinion that Andre Bouchard is not on the level, and something is more than amiss in our once proud, but now heavily tarnished Chancery Court! I have been complaining about Bouchard and his cronyism from the day he was appointed. I have been shouting about this man — who drives to Court everyday in his shiny Bentley — starting with the appointment of one of his political cronies, who was embarrassingly unqualified to be a deputy in the Register of Wills office, to his terrible handling of the TransPerfect Global case, which lowered our state’s rating from one to eleven in the National Chamber of Commerce Survey.I’ve been warning of these shameful dangers, and now the latest bombshell news has come out! From my perspective, Bouchard should be done. But apparently he’s somehow protected by the Delaware system!!We have learned just how arrogant Bouchard appears to be and how he seems to put himself above the law. In this newest scandal, the attorneys for Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC, a biotechnology company, filed a motion alleging that Mr. Bouchard did not disclose that he was representing Vice Chancellor Parsons, as the Delaware Chancery Court’s attorney, in a high-profile First Amendment case. This while he was also arguing a case before that very same Chancellor. Are you kidding?? Can this be true?!“A reasonable observer would conclude that there is serious potential for bias when the attorney representing a party is also representing the trial judge in another matter,” the biotech company’s complaint said. After reading the story below, I’m outraged it has gotten this out of control after years of me pounding the table. All while our spineless elected leaders and members of our once illustrious Bar continue to bow to this man as if he’s their king, and they, his servants.Maybe this would happen in a third-world country, not our Chancery Court?! When will the people of Delaware say, enough?! We in Delaware should all be ashamed! And we should be calling for this man to resign! And for the legislature to start impeachment proceedings immediately and make our once proud Chancery Court great again! As long as Bouchard remains Chancellor, Delaware will never be respected again. That’s how I see it, folks.From the early days running the court something seemed wrong with Bouchard’s decisions to appoint un-qualified buddies to be deputies in the Register of Wills office. This was more appalling when more qualified people were stepped over just so the Chancellor could dole out favors. I felt this man had an agenda and was using his position unlike any other judge previously in his seat had done.He has proven me right again and again. I always suspected there was something more behind all of the erroneous and unprecedented decisions by Bouchard in the TransPerfect case after I learned of his longtime relationship with friend and cohort Kevin Shannon of Potter Anderson or his relationship with his old colleague Robert Pincus of Skadden Arps. I told you how Shannon and Bouchard shared a stage and spoke on a panel together in New Orleans during the trial. As I understand it, if we were in any other state, his failure to recuse himself would have prompted a demand for his resignation by the Governor, legislature or members of the Bar and a formal investigation by the grievance committee would have been initiated. But not in Delaware. Just as we are seeing in Washington today, our democracy is being tested and the people of Delaware are the big losers.Maybe you, like I, are asking yourself, how is this happening? Are we supposed to simply sit back and watch our once proud court system deteriorating right before our eyes? We cannot allow this to continue, my friends.Some say our Chancery Court in Delaware is the only equity court that truly matters in the world! Well, imagine if you became the head of that court, without ever having served one day as a judge previously. You get appointed in what amounted to be a rubber stamping in a 15-minute session by the State Senate. And then you get the keys to the kingdom.Now more than ever, I am convinced that the many employees of TransPerfect, including CEO and founder Phil Shawe, were set up by Bouchard and his buddies Kevin Shannon and Robert Pincus of Skadden. I’ll say it again folks in reference to Lord Acton, a British historian of the 19th Century who once said, “absolute power corrupts, absolutely.” It was true then, and remains true now. From England all the way to Delaware.As I see it, BOUCHARD SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE BENCH AND DISBARRED!!Read the story below, and weep for us all.
Law360 (February 28, 2019, 9:51 PM EST) — A biotechnology company said Thursday that neither Chancellor Andre G. Bouchard nor now-retired Vice Chancellor Donald F. Parsons Jr. disclosed Bouchard’s prior role as the Delaware Chancery Court’s attorney in a high-profile First Amendment case while he simultaneously argued separate litigation before Vice Chancellor Parsons that created a conflict of interest.
Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC said Bouchard represented defendant Roche Diagnostics GmbH in the intellectual property rights suit that was tried in 2014 before Vice Chancellor Parsons while Bouchard was also representing him and the other chancery judges in the First Amendment case that targeted a closed-door arbitration program involving them.
The apparent conflict necessitates vacating Vice Chancellor Parsons’ rulings in favor of Roche and ordering a new trial on Meso’s claims, Meso’s complaint argued.
“A reasonable observer would conclude that there is a serious potential for bias when the attorney representing a party is also representing the trial judge in another matter,” the complaint said.
Jacob Wohlstadter, Meso’s president and CEO, discovered the conflict in early 2018 when internet research revealed that Bouchard, while an attorney with Bouchard Margules & Friedlander, represented the Court of Chancery, the chancery court judges and the state of Delaware in a 2011 suit brought by the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, the complaint said.
That suit, brought in Delaware federal court, alleged the Court of Chancery had violated the First Amendment by holding arbitration sessions that were closed to the public, according to the complaint. The federal court dismissed the Court of Chancery and the state of Delaware from the suit on sovereign immunity grounds but ruled against the judges’ summary judgment motions.
Bouchard represented Vice Chancellor Parsons and the other judges in their appeal to the Third Circuit, which affirmed the federal court’s rulings. He continued to represent them when they submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, Meso said.
Bouchard represented Vice Chancellor Parsons from 2011 to 2014, encompassing the majority of the time the Meso litigation was pending before him, Meso alleges, and neither party ever disclosed this representation.
Bouchard was nominated to fill the vacant chancellor seat in March 2014, four months after post-trial arguments in the Meso litigation, and he ascended to the seat in April 2014, two months before Vice Chancellor Parsons issued his opinion in the Meso case, the company alleges.
Meso argues that its due process rights were violated because of the potential bias created by Bouchard’s dual representations at the time of the litigation. The complaint said a judge may feel “a debt of gratitude” to his own attorney; that a judge obviously has a favorable opinion of his own attorney’s legal skills and character, causing the court to be deferential to the attorney; and that the judge and his attorney have a “special relationship” that causes the judge to rule in his own attorney’s favor.
Vice Chancellor Parsons should have recused himself from presiding over the Meso litigation to comply with ethics rules and previous holdings of the Court of Chancery on such conflicts, the company said.
“The ethical rules requiring recusal when a judge’s attorney appears before the judge are broad and uncompromising,” the complaint said.
Those rules require recusal even when there is no evidence the judge is actually biased, Meso argued.
Because all the then-current judges of the Court of Chancery were being represented by Bouchard in the federal court case, another judge from outside that court should have presided over the Meso case, the complaint said.
Meso brought its suit against Roche in 2010 over alleged breaches of a licensing agreement for blood protein testing technology. In June 2014, Vice Chancellor Parsons ruled that Meso couldn’t challenge Roche’s use of the licensed technology. Meso appealed that decision to the Delaware Supreme Court, which affirmed the ruling, and then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, which was denied.
Parsons, Bouchard and representatives for Meso and Roche did not immediately respond late Thursday to requests for comment.
Neither Bouchard nor Parsons are named as defendants in the complaint.
Meso is represented by David L. Finger of Finger & Slanina LLC and William S. Consovoy and J. Michael Connolly of Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC.
Counsel information for Roche was not immediately available Thursday.
The case is Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC et al., v. Roche Diagnostic GmbH et al., case number 2019-0167, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.
Additional reporting by Caroline Simson and Vin Gurrieri. Editing by Haylee Pearl.
