Citizens for Pro-Business Delaware is protesting a decision to that barred its representatives from the Delaware Bar Association’s Bench and Bar conference.
In attendance was Chancellor Andre Bouchard, who served as a panelist. Bouchard’s decision to appoint a custodian in the dispute over ownership of New York-based TransPerfect drew the ire of the group that is comprised of TransPerfect employees and others.
Chancery signed off on the custodian’s recommendation that co-owner and co-founder Phil Shawe buy out co-founder Liz Elting.
“The blatant disregard for our volunteer’s freedom of speech is unacceptable and reflects the Chancery Court’s resistance against this campaign for transparency and accountability,” said Miranda Wessinger, president of Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware. “We will not allow these actions to discourage our efforts to protect Delaware’s pro-business reputation. The current Chancery Court, and most specifically Chancellor Bouchard, are hindering the state’s ability to attract and retain Fortune 500 companies with what has become a runaway corruption train. It must stop.”
The Bar Association issued the following statement:
DSBA holds its annual meeting at our Bench and Bar Conference, usually in June. This year, it was held at the Chase Center on the Riverfront and involves a meeting and continuing legal education. The attendance at the Bench and Bar Conference requires paid attendance and it is not considered a public forum. Last Friday, two individuals entered our conference misrepresenting themselves as “vendors”. When we told them they were not on our list of vendors who had requested tables at our event, they were polite and left. We understand that later, those same persons were handing out flyers and that the building owner (or representative) asked them to leave the outside premises where they were distributing their flyers. The only interaction DSBA had with them was that we told them they could not remain inside our event because they were not vendors.
The legal community, while not necessarily happy with Chancery taking on the TransPerfect case that at one point led to advertisements on out of state TV stations on the dangers of incorporating in Delaware, worried that the danger of caving in to pressure from one company or group will set a bad precedent for Delaware’s corporate law system.
Further information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is available at DelawareForBusiness.org.
