“Citizens for Pro-Business Delaware” has been posting a series of ads in the Delaware News Journal implicating law firms like Skadden Arps in what this activist group sees as unethical and suspicious behavior both locally and nationwide, especially involving what I see as its shady billing practices with TransPerfect, under the direction of Delaware’s Chancellor Andre Bouchard, who was once a partner at Skadden.
As a big skeptic about Bouchard’s integrity, having followed his decisions for over 4 years now, I am definitely for transparency and unbiased decisions in the Chancery Court. I frankly think Bouchard is a terrible representative of Delaware’s respected equity court and should be replaced now before it gets any worse. The Chancery Court is operating under a cloud of darkness as things are now. As I see it, folks, when you have a Chancellor who ignores obvious conflicts of interest and condones the appearance of impropriety, it must be fixed!
The Citizens group also harps on diversity. I don’t believe that someone should be appointed a judge or Chancellor, simply because they come from a certain background. That said, I do believe that regardless of their race or background, the most qualified candidate should be appointed, and right now the system is failing because we are only getting a select group from a very small pool of candidates.
Regardless, in my view, I am sure that Skadden Arps will eventually succumb to the pressure and find a few Ivy League, liberal African American Lawyers to fulfill the public demand for diversity, as will eventually the State of Delaware. Diversity is indeed a good thing, but personally, I believe, as do most of my friends and readers, that the best person for the job should be hired. That is my objective view and this old dog is not going to change his mind.
Please read the article below and tell me what you think. Thank you and best regards.
See the press release below:
June 08, 2020 01:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time
WILMINGTON, Del.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, a grassroots advocacy group, announced the latest in its series of print ads in the Delaware News Journal highlighting the conflicts of interest and failures of transparency that plague the Chancery Court and elite Delaware law firms like Skadden Arps.
The ad shines a light on Skadden Arps’ history of ethically dubious behavior both in Delaware and internationally, including their direct role in the Ukraine voter suppression scandal, the appalling lack of diversity in the firm’s Wilmington office.
The ad, in part, reads, “over the past 3 years, Skadden Arps has named 38 new partners, only 2 of whom are African-American. Of 66 attorneys in Skadden’s Wilmington office, there is just one Black partner and one Black associate.”
The ad comes on the heels of a letter penned by civil right activist Reverend Al Sharpton to Robert Saunders, the head of Skadden Arps’ Wilmington, DE office, calling for more diversity at the firm and others like it.
Skadden Arps has also been subject to criticism over the egregiously non-transparent billing practices practiced by Bob Pincus and Jennifer Voss in their role in the TransPerfect case, which has now cost the company over $14 million in unexplained fees.
Said Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Campaign (CPBD) Manager Chris Coffey, “Over the past year, our members have been calling for Delaware to make progress in diversifying its court system, but to no avail. We said from the beginning we weren’t going to be afraid of calling out those we see responsible for perpetuating a rigged system the only helps a select few, and this ad campaign shows how serious we are about that.
“The inequities in Delaware’s justice system, caused by a court system run by mostly white judges is a direct result of firms like Skadden Arps denying opportunities to people of color. We can’t possibly expect the judges in our courts to accurately reflect the racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic diversity of this state if they aren’t given the opportunity to gain the relevant experience.
“Lacking diversity in our justice system is a national and systemic issue. But in a state that’s home to the country’s busiest corporate courts, where judges are handpicked to join an old boys’ club from top firms like Skadden, it’s critical we end the status quo, and Skadden needs to answer for their role in this corrupt system.”
I’ve been venting my frustration about Delaware Courts and the unbridled abuse in what looks to be a corrupt system full of bias and from my view, quite a bit of cronyistic behavior.
Specifically, the way the TransPerfect case was handled by its leader Chancellor Andre Bouchard was particularly disconcerting. I feel it exposed weaknesses in Delaware’s Courts. Improvements are definitely needed. While the call to action I’ve clearly made to the Delaware legislators has largely been ignored, it’s hard to reasonably argue that the change needs to start at the top.
Now we’re seeing the Chancery Court’s flaws being pointed out on a national level by people across the political spectrum. There’s a YouTube video that came to my attention, which I’ve linked to below, “Rev. Al Sharpton Advocates for Diversity on Delaware’s Courts in Wilmington.”
Watch the video and you’ll hear that there are more voices now complaining about Delaware Courts and our Chancery Court. I’ve been fed up for years and now many others are too.
I will say that I find it downright embarrassing that it has come to this. Do we really need Rev. Al Sharpton trotting in on his high-horse to save America’s First State? Has it really come to this?! It’s bringing embarrassment to the state of Delaware.
I believe this is about the “Good Old Boys Club” in Delaware: They are blind and deaf when it comes to anything but serving their own needs. While they’ve ignored disaster happening around them, they can no longer keep their heads in the sand.
Delaware Courts are broken. Why not take a leadership role, Chancellor Bouchard, and do something here?!
If you don’t listen now, who knows who will be next, demanding change in our once great state?!
Let me know your thoughts on this big Delaware issue, folks.
Here’s the YouTube video featuring Rev. Al Sharpton:
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 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.”
Look, folks, if you have been paying attention in recent years, you’ll know that I am an advocate against some of the actions I have observed by the law firm of Skadden Arps. Indeed, after I saw, in my opinion, how they dominated the Chancery Court in the recent TransPerfect case, which made countless headlines from the procedures that took place in this Court over the past few years, I am simply amazed? It appears to me from the complaints I have received and the apparent incessant situation I have witnessed, that Skadden has possibly turned TransPerfect into their own monetary printing press! Outrageously, their billing of TransPerfect apparently continues to this day! I cannot understand this?
The Dover Post story below points out flaws in the Delaware courts and shows where change is needed. And chief among the offenders of this is the Skadden Arps firm, which, as I see it, is where these offenders learn their tradecraft and then move through the ranks of the Delaware Chancery Court and upper court system.
And now, on top of all of this, Skadden Aprs and Andre Bouchard’s Chancery Court is now facing racism charges and has been called upon by Reverend Al Sharpton to increase diversity and inclusion efforts. After Tamika Montgomery–Reeves’ move to Delaware’s Supreme Court, the Chancery Court is now back to its all-white status quo.
As an aside, Diversity Claims and Affirmative Action after years of it, are certainly not my priority, however, it is in the news and worth mentioning.
See the Dover Post story below for the changes being demanded at the Chancery Court.
By Emily Lytle
Originally Published in the Dover Post: Jan. 15, 2020
Pastors and community members rallied outside Legislative Hall Jan. 15.
The Rev. Dale Dennis II of Hoyt Memorial C.M.E in Wilmington led a rally in Dover to advocate for more African American representation in Delaware’s courts. He said he is fighting for his young daughter.
“As a diverse state, we must begin to make sure that people can see themselves as the future and the right-now of America,” Dennis said.
He joined the Rev. Blaine Hackett of St. John Africa Methodist Church, the Rev. Alfred S. Parker Jr., president of Methodist Ministers’ Alliance, and several residents outside Legislative Hall as the Delaware Senate Executive Committee considered Paul Fioravanti Jr.’s nomination to the Court of Chancery Jan. 15.
Fioravanti’s nomination was later confirmed. He will replace Justice Tameeka Montgomery-Reeves who became the first African American judge on the state Supreme Court Jan. 3.
“Paul’s litigation experience and judgment will serve our state well on the Court of Chancery, our country’s premier venue for corporate litigation,” Gov. John Carney said in a statement. “I want to thank members of the Delaware Senate for considering and confirming his nomination.”
Hackett believes there needs to be a greater African American presence to speak up for the more than 60% of Delaware’s prison population that is black.
“Black folk, we are being pushed farther under the totem pole,” Hackett said. “We’re out here shedding our blood. We’re out here being beat and incarcerated at levels like no other race. And yet nobody is fighting our cause, championing our cause, very few.”
Four of the 34 justices who serve on the three highest courts in Delaware are people of color.
The rally came after civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton was denied the opportunity to testify about diversity in the state’s courts at the hearing. He has visited Delaware to talk about this over the past several months and wrote to law firm Skadden Arps, calling for elite firms to do their part in advancing people of color in the legal industry.
“To say that I am disappointed I was denied the opportunity to testify before the Delaware State Senate on the matter of [Mr. Fioravanti’s] confirmation would be an understatement,” Sharpton said in a separate statement released to Delaware Business Now. “Diversity transferred is not diversity created or advanced. Delaware must do better. Governor Carney and the State Legislature must do better. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue further with them, and will not rest until we address this injustice.”
Representatives from Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware attended the rally and supported the leading pastors.
“It’s disappointing the Senate chose not to hear from Reverend Sharpton, whose moral credibility on issues of racial justice is beyond question, but today’s rally showed just how important this issue is to countless Delawareans,” said Chris Coffey, campaign manager for Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware.
Dennis said this is a change that cannot wait.
“We must continue to make sure that when our children look at our courts, our children see people who look like them and remind them of what their future can be and allow them to know that they can overcome any obstacle and they can achieve anything in the great United States of America,” Dennis said. “But, it starts with us holding our feet to the fire to say that it is absolutely important for us to make sure that our courts are diverse. And it’s time for diversity now.”
I was eagerly watching the college football national championship game this week. I’m a big fan and have traveled far-and-wide to see Delaware’s team play over the years. While watching the game, I thought about next season and couldn’t help but feel happy for the folks over at TransPerfect. The company — almost disbanded by Andre Bouchard’s Chancery Court — will take a victory lap of sorts.
Next year, TransPerfect will begin sponsoring a Top 10 College Football Bowl Game, “The Music City Bowl”in Nashville, Tennesse. The game will see a Southeastern Conference (SEC) team take on a Big 10 Conference team, in what should be a strong matchup. If you’re going to put your company’s hard-earned money on the line, this is the way to spend it, rather than spending millions on Skadden Arps’ billings, which continue to this day, to the tune of nearly six figures, on average, each month.
In my opinion, it’s shameful how Skadden Arps is raiding the corporate coffers over at TransPerfect. The company has to pay the bills without seeing them. No itemization. Nothing. Everything’s hidden like it’s Russia. How these bills continue to this day, nearly two years after the case has been closed, is beyond me! That must be maddening for CEO Phil Shawe, CFO Steve Tondera and the other executives at TransPerfect.
Last year in Wilmington, I was able to meet some of the executives and employees of this privately-held, fast-growing company. The group’s energy and enthusiasm was that of a company far younger than its almost three decades in business. After everything they’ve been through at TransPerfect, with, as I see it, Bouchard and Skadden Arps, raking them over the coals, this festive bowl sponsorship and the accolades that go along with it couldn’t be happening to a more well-deserving group of people.
As I look to the coming year, it’s heartening to see good things coming for TransPerfect, despite being treated so poorly by Bouchard, Skadden, and, in my view, some of our weak-in-the-knees Delaware legislators, who should be putting politics aside and making the needed law changes. Even well-known Reverend Al Sharpton has noticed something rotten at Skadden, writing a letter last week criticizing them for lack of diversity, especially in their Wilmington office!
As always your comments are welcome and appreciated.
How ridiculous is this? See the nutty story below for a story that’s not to be believed! It appears to me that the people at Skadden Arps are trying to blame TransPerfect because this law firm has too few attorneys of color in their Wilmington office. I wonder how ignorant Skadden and their former workers Andre Bouchard and Robert Pincus think the pubic is?
The TransPerfect case is still sealed up, two years after it ended and Skadden is still billing them! In my educated opinion, folks, this appears to be an attempt to hide and to divert attention away from their endless money-grab from this company by saying that TransPerfect is somehow responsible for Skadden having not being diverse enough? I don’t understand what’s up with the incessant billing, nor can I get an explanation from anybody on why it is still going on?
Look, at the end of the day, I’m an old guy set in my ways and diversity is not on my agenda of problems to solve in the world. I believe that you hire the person you feel is best suited for the job, regardless of color, race, religion or sexual orientation. As I see it, everyone should be somewhat suspicious of Skadden Arps and those Limousine Liberals that cruise around our justice system.
I’ve been watching this BS for a few years now and in my opinion, it seems they do not NOT value what they say they value. So whether it’s the non-stop money faucet from this company or playing favorites with former Skadden folks, who have moved on to positions of power in the Delaware court system, or it’s diversity in their own workplace, these guys, in my view, are not upfront.
What’s good for these guys is what’s good for them and no one else, as far as I’m concerned. They have a not-so-great track-record, not just in the U.S., but around the world. You think they’re worried about diversity in Delaware? I think they’re worried about money and cronyistic behavior. In my opinion, they’re counting on no one peeking too hard in on little-ole Delaware, while they have their way with court appointments, finances and running the show from Wilmington to Dover and everywhere in between??
I’ve been keenly aware of Skadden Arps because many of its former and current employees were involved in the TransPerfect case, which I have written about over the past few years. This law firm once employed Chancery Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard and former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court Leo Strine and of course the court-appointed custodian in the case, Robert Pincus.
The firm has doubled-down on that arrogance, in my opinion, by going after advocacy group Citizens for Pro-Business Delaware, after being faced with racism allegations from Reverend Al Sharpton last week. For the record, I can’t stand Al Sharpton! Regardless, Skadden issued a statement saying, while they are open to addressing “this systemic issue,” and they “reject attempts by Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware” the statement says, “a group comprised primarily of employees of TransPerfect—to co-opt the conversation of diversity and inclusion in Delaware as a means to further their vendetta against our firm and former partner, who we represent in his capacity as the court-appointed custodian who oversaw the sale of TransPerfect.”
So, in my view, they cast blame and accuse wrongdoing while not taking on any blame or admitting any wrongdoing on their part. How about taking responsibility?
The Citizens group fought back, you’ll see in the story below. As far as Skadden is concerned, in my view, this is all shameful. Frankly , this diversity crap is ridiculous from both sides. I have felt that TransPerfect, Philip Shawe, and his mother Shirley Shawe all got a raw deal. Considering the conflicts of interest and in my view, continuing appearances of impropriety, is the real rub here!
By Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware
Published Jan 7, 2020 at 8:00 am | Updated Jan 7, 2020 at 4:02 pm
WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ —
Following Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates’ response to Reverend Al Sharpton’s recent call for top law firms, including Skadden, to increase diversity and inclusion efforts, CPBD Campaign Manager Chris Coffey has released the following statement:
“It’s not shocking in the least that the same firm responsible for suppressing the voices of those advocating for basic human rights in Ukraine would now shift its focus towards slinging mud at a 5,000-member grassroots organization seeking to improve diversity in the historically white and male Delaware court system. We spent over $1 million advocating for diversity in Delaware last year. What have they done?
Instead of addressing the fact that out of 72 lawyers in Delaware, Skadden has barely a handful of African American lawyers in a state that’s almost 30% black. Meanwhile, despite hollow promises to change their legacy on this, and be ‘steadfast in their efforts to build a diverse workforce,’ just one of their summer associates in Delaware – home to the nation’s busiest corporate courts – was black.
Skadden should take a long look at themselves and what they can do to be better, more honest, and more inclusive leaders in the legal community before throwing mud at those trying to break the status quo. It’s 2020 and it’s time legal industry leaders like Skadden Arps acted like it.”