Gov. Jack Markell nominated corporate attorney Collins J. (C.J.) Seitz, Jr., to serve on the Delaware Supreme Court.
If confirmed by the Delaware Senate, Seitz will fill the vacancy left by Justice Henry duPont Ridgely, who retired on January 31st.
“During his distinguished legal career of more than 30 years, C.J. Seitz has earned a reputation as brilliant attorney whose judgment, civility, and integrity are second to none,” said Markell. “If he is confirmed by Senate, I believe C.J. will serve our state well as a member of Delaware’s highest court.”
Seitz is the founding partner of Seitz, Ross, Aronstam & Moritz LLP. He regularly litigates corporate, commercial, and intellectual property cases, and advises clients on issues of Delaware corporate law. Previously, Seitz served as managing partner of Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP, where he practiced for more than three decades.
He is a trustee for the New Castle Presbyterian Church, board member of the Friends of Hockessin Colored School #107, board member and former president of the Greater Hockessin Area Development Association, and board member and former president of Community Legal Aid Society.
Seitz, 57, received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware in 1980. He earned his law degree at the Villanova University School of Law and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1983. He resides with his wife in New Castle.
Seitz is part of a prominent legal family in Delaware. His father, Collins Seitz, while a vice chancellor in Delaware, ruled that the separate but equal was not a valid justification for racial segregation.
His ruling and others became the basis for the landmark Brown vs. the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that outlawed school segregation. The elder Seitz went on the service on the Delaware Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals. His daughter, Virginia Seitz, served as an assistant U.S. Attorney General and now is a partner in a Washington, D.C. law firm.
Markell also announced that he has nominated the Calvin L. Scott, Jr. for reappointment to the Delaware Superior Court. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the Widener University School of Law, Judge Scott has served as a judge on the Superior Court since 2003.
