Court Motion Reveals Skadden Arps has Charged $10 million in Undisclosed Legal Fees as Custodian of TransPerfect While Hiding Behind Obscure Chancery Court Order; Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Renews Call for Reform
WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a court motion filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery today by TransPerfect Global, Inc. revealing that the law firm of Skadden Arps has billed the translation services company for upwards of $10 million in undisclosed legal fees since being appointed the company's custodian, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware (CPBD) is renewing its call for reforms to the opaque business court.
Among the much-needed reforms is legislation, introduced to the Delaware State Legislature, that would bring much-need transparency to the Chancery Court, requiring appointed custodians to itemize and publicly disclose a complete accounting of the costs they've passed on to the companies under their control so that the public, and the companies themselves, know how their money is being spent. The legislation follows Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor Bouchard's abuse of court rules, as he appointed his last employer, Skadden Arps, and ruled that TransPerfect – which is incorporated in Delaware and has nearly 4,000 employees globally – should be sold as a result of an internal dispute between the company's ownership. Since, Skadden Arps has received a significant amount of the $250 million that was spent on the case.
Said Chris Coffey, Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware's Campaign Manager, "The Skaddenomics that Chancellor Bouchard has enabled in his Chancery Court by violating the court's rules to direct millions of dollars to friends at his old law firm are unacceptable, and exactly the sort of behavior that our over 5,000 members are committed to fighting. The Delaware State Legislature should take a long look at this motion and consider the legislation before them to create a fairer and more transparent Chancery Court. When you eat a meal at a restaurant, you get a receipt with a breakdown of the charges. Why shouldn't the Chancery Court be required to do the same for companies they're forcing to pay millions in legal fees?"
According to TransPerfect's motion, over two years after the TransPerfect case was settled in 2015, the custodian in the case, Robert Pincus, has continued to bill the company every month for undisclosed services, including his own $1,475 an hour fee. According to TransPerfect's motion, his responsibilities remain unclear, and any efforts to ascertain the substance of his work on behalf of TransPerfect have been met with silence. The Chancery Court has kept all invoices and description of services under seal – allegedly to protect the sale process, which ended over two years ago.
As Delaware dropped 10 spots to number 11 according to the Chamber of Commerce in its judicial rankings last year, CPBD announced a new platform to dramatically improve ethics, transparency, and accountability in the State's Government and Chancery Court. The full platform is available here.
Contact: Chris Coffey, [email protected]
SOURCE Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware
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