Citizens for Judicial Fairness Protests Delaware’s Kangaroo Chancery Court at Corporate Law Conference

As Delaware’s judicial and corporate elites convene for a legal conference, protesters held a demonstration outside to expose Delaware’s kangaroo Chancery Court led by conference speaker Kathaleen McCormick

NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Citizens for Judicial Fairness volunteers protested the Delaware Governance Institute on the University of Delaware campus in opposition to ongoing bias and rubber-stamping of legal fees by Delaware’s Chancery Court and Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who is speaking at the event.

While legal, judiciary, and corporate elites gathered inside the Clayton Hall Conference Center to discuss recent trends in Delaware law, protesters dressed as judges with inflatable kangaroos representing Delaware’s kangaroo Chancery Court brought attention to the abuse of justice and lack of transparency within Delaware courts.

Chancellor McCormick epitomizes the exploitative behavior at play in the Chancery Court. Since stepping into her role, the Chancery Court has rubber-stamped millions in excessive legal fees for corporate elites. Earlier this month, X (formerly known as Twitter) was ordered to pay $1.1 M dollars in legal fees, a ruling issued in favor of former Twitter executives. Technology company Dell was instructed to pay $266 million in legal fees. TransPerfect, the world’s largest translation services company, is still being charged millions in egregious fees every month by Skadden Arps – fees that are promptly approved by McCormick’s Chancery Court.

Businesses that once called Delaware home are now fleeing the state due to murky court rulings from the Delaware Chancery Court. These entities annually generate about $3 billion dollars for the economy totaling 20% of the state budget. That money goes towards critical initiatives such as schools, infrastructure, and general economic development.

“While corporations leaving the state hurts all Delawareans it harms Black and Latino residents the most. The all-white institution which makes up the court doesn’t care about this pain to people of color when they scratch the backs of their buddies with legal fees that drive much-needed tax revenue out of our state,” said activist and protest leader Keandra McDole. “We won’t sit in silence without a fight. We need Black judges in our judicial system. For far too long the Chancery has operated with a questionable moral code. Failure to reform this court with judges who are sensitive to Delaware’s diverse communities harms not only the state’s business reputation but also the state’s ability to provide for its people.”

Citizens for Judicial Fairness (formerly Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware) is a grassroots advocacy organization fighting for transparency, equity, and accountability in state judiciaries across America. Founded by employees of TransPerfect Global in 2016 to fight the Delaware Chancery Court’s unprecedented forced sale of TransPerfect, the group has since grown to over 5,000 members nationwide. CJF leverages grassroots pressure, strategic partnerships, and political advocacy to campaign for common-sense solutions to increase transparency and equity in court systems across the country. To learn more about CJF, visit CitizensForJudicialFairness.org.