ADDING MULTIMEDIA Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Launches Ad Attacking Skadden for Ethical Breaches and Lack of Diversity

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.”