A bill has been introduced that would require Chancery Court to disclose fees paid in rare cases where a custodian is paid to appointed to deal with the deadlocked sale of a company.
The legislation comes out of a deadlock over the sale of TransPerfect.
State Rep. Michael Smith, R-Newark, sponsored the bill that was introduced late in the legislative session and will be considered next year.
A release from Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware stated that 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. Chancery Court has kept all invoices and description of services under seal – allegedly to protect the sale process, which ended in 2017.
The dispute came after a deadlock between 50-50 owners, Elizabeth Elting and Philip Shawe. Pincus recommended and Bouchard agreed that Shawe should buy out Elting.
Legal costs ran a reported $250 million.
“This is simple, common-sense legislation, and a necessary step towards a more transparent and fairer Chancery Court,” said Miranda Wessinger, president of Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware. “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? When court-appointed lawyers are able to charge thousands of dollars an hour for “undisclosed services,” corruption runs rampant.”
Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group of more than 2,700 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as Delaware residents, and business executives.
