By Andrew M. Lubin, president of Delaware Financial Group In response to legitimate concerns from the national business and legal community, leaders of the Delaware General Assembly introduced bipartisan legislation that restores the balance between fairness and efficiency that has enabled Delaware to claim its role as the preeminent jurisdiction for incorporation.  The Senate voted 20 to 0 in favor of the legislation, which was then sent to the House Judiciary Committee, from which it emerged with a vote of 9 to 2 in favor.  The Governor’s office has indicated its strong desire to enact the legislation. The state’s legal and business community has rallied around the legislation, which reflects the input from Delaware’s Corporation Law Council, a body composed of prominent Delaware corporate attorneys with a wide range of experience that is advocating for its passage.  The Corporation Law Section of the Delaware bar endorsed the legislation by a 74% margin.  Several former Delaware judges have publicly spoken in favor of the legislation, citing the need for clarity and predictability in the core areas of Delaware corporate law over which they have collectively spent decades presiding.  Delaware-based law firms that have practiced in the state for decades (and in some cases more than a century) and that collectively employ more than 1350 employees in Delaware have been unwavering in their support of the legislation.  These firms, whose interests are uniquely aligned with the state, are actively promoting its passage as a means of burnishing Delaware’s global reputation in the broader corporate system. Delaware’s trade groups also recognize how critical the legislation is to maintaining Delaware’s corporate franchise.  Non-profit organizations, including the Delaware Volunteer Firefighters’ Association, Christiana Care, the Delaware Healthcare Association, and the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, stand alongside thousands of Delaware businesses and trade groups.  These include the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware Business Roundtable, the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, the Rehoboth-Dewey Chamber of Commerce, the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, the Kent Sussex Leadership Alliance, the Homebuilders Association of Delaware, the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association, and the Delaware Restaurant Association.  All have voiced their support. Why, then, is the legislation being characterized, in paid-for advertisements, in op-ed pieces, and in some media coverage, as “controversial”?  The answer is simple: a small but well-funded alliance of stockholder plaintiffs’ lawyers in the corporate bar view the legislation as a threat to the massive contingency fees they seek to collect, whether in the form of judgments or settlement payments, whenever they sue Delaware corporations or their directors and officers.  The yard signs and mass mailings decrying “SB 21” are not evidence of widespread opposition to the legislation.  Rather, they reflect the profligate spending of well-healed stockholder plaintiffs’ lawyers on an astroturf political campaign. The corporate plaintiffs’ firms that have voiced opposition to the legislation do not have Delaware’s best interest at heart.  Indeed, most of the lawyers who work at these firms reside out of state.  Collectively, they employ fewer than 70 lawyers in Delaware.  To the extent they have offices in Delaware (many do not), they were in most cases opened only very recently—within the last five to ten years—and are merely outposts of much larger offices in New York and other cities, where the real decisions are made and where the lucrative settlement payments and fee awards are principally funneled.  That these firms, in coordinating their opposition to the legislation, are using an expensive lobbyist from Washington, D.C. demonstrates their lack of ties to Delaware. Nevertheless, by wielding a massive (and massively expensive) campaign to mischaracterize the legislation and the intent of the drafters, these firms have tried to spin the legislation as “controversial,” creating the false impression that the legislation faces widespread opposition.  Why?  Because they believe the legislation threatens the massive fees they’ve been able to extract at the expense of the stockholders they purport to represent.  In the past five years alone, “stockholder” plaintiffs’ firms have received fee awards exceeding $1 billion.  Most of the firms that have received these fees have less than ten lawyers in Delaware.  These are the primary opponents to SB 21.  Why are these firms misbranding the common-sense corporate legislation widely supported by Delaware law firms and businesses as a “billionaire’s bill”?  To protect their own fees.  As the expression goes, that’s quite rich indeed. These plaintiffs’ firms will feverishly resist any reforms to Delaware law that jeopardize their eye-popping fees, even if doing so risks a mass exodus of corporations from Delaware.  Why?  Because they don’t need to be in Delaware.  If corporations reincorporated, en masse, to other jurisdictions, the plaintiffs’ firms would follow them.  Again, most of the attorneys at these firms aren’t currently in Delaware to begin with. In short, lawyers and businesses who actually live and operate in Delaware have an interest in ensuring that the state remains strong and prosperous.  And these Delaware firms and businesses overwhelmingly support the legislation, precisely because it is balanced and essential for a strong and prosperous state. About the Author Andrew M. Lubin, president of Delaware Financial Group and 25-year member of the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC). About The Sponsor The Alliance to Protect Delaware’s Future is a coalition of Delaware organizations representing a diverse cross-section of industries and sectors that see the need to advocate for sensible policies that put hardworking Delawareans first, enhance our quality of life, and strengthen our economy.  SB 21 is one such policy, that will ensure that Delaware remains the best place in the nation to incorporate and will protect critical funding for our schools, healthcare, public safety, and more.  

BEAR — On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, around 12:50 a.m., patrol officers responded to the 1700 block of Barbara Circle in Waterford Trailer Park for a check on the welfare of a male subject, later identified as 66-year-old Joel Culpepper of Bear, who was possibly suicidal. Officers responded to the area and located Joel walking through the neighborhood, where they were able to take him into custody. Upon returning to Joel’s residence, where he lived with his girlfriend, 63-year-old Maryann Martin, officers found Maryann unconscious. Despite their attempts to perform life-saving measures, she was pronounced deceased at the scene. Detectives from the Division’s Major Crimes Squad and Evidence Detection Squad responded to the scene to assume the investigation. Joel was transported to a local hospital for treatment, released, and then transported to the New Castle County Police Headquarters, where he was charged with one count of murder in the first degree and one count of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. Joel was arraigned by the Justice of The Peace Court 2 and committed to the Howard Young Correctional Facility in lieu of $1,060,000.00 cash bail.

The Delaware State Police arrested a 17-year-old male, and 19-year-old LeShaun Bradley, both from Wilmington, Delaware, for multiple felony offenses following a pursuit in a stolen Acura that occurred early Wednesday […] The post Troopers Arrest Two Suspects Following Pursuit in Stolen Acura in New Castle appeared first on Delaware State Police – State of Delaware.

Joshua Haller, 34, of Elkton, Md., and Amanda Grove, 35, of Newark, were arraigned on charges of theft over $1,500, a felony-level offense, as well as conspiracy and criminal mischief. Neither Haller nor Grove has an affiliation with the University of Delaware. Haller and Grove were arrested in connection with the theft of catalytic converters from vehicles parked outside of a building on the University’s STAR Campus. Witnesses initially identified Haller and an unknown woman leaving the area on Oct. 3 in a black Jeep Compass with a stolen Delaware registration. An arrest warrant for Haller was approved on Oct. 8. Haller turned himself in to UD Police for arraignment, at which time it was learned that Haller had several warrants from Cecil County, Md. He was arraigned on an out-of-state fugitive charge and given an unconditional trespass warning. Through continued investigation, UD Police positively identified Grove as the second suspect involved in the thefts. With approval of an arrest warrant for Grove, it was learned that she had additional warrants from Delaware State Police, New Castle County Police, Maryland State Police, and Cecil County Police. Grove was transported to UD Police on Jan. 13. She was arraigned on the aforementioned charges and given an unsecured bail of $11,000, as well as a no-contact order with the University of Delaware.

Smyrna, DE – Six inmates from Delaware’s largest state prison are studying to become professional tattoo artists in the newest career pathway training program recently launched by the Delaware Department of Correction at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. The Tattoo Artist Career Pathway Program aims to set incarcerated individuals up for success when they return […]

Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE:SPH) has become the Official Propane of NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports through a multi-year partnership. Speedway Motorsports owns 10 tracks that host NASCAR races, including Dover Motor Speedway. Suburban Propane is a Whippany, NJ-based nationwide distributor of propane, renewable propane, renewable natural gas, fuel oil, and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity and investor in low carbon fuel alternatives, As the Official Propane of NASCAR, Suburban Propane will provide the propane for the new, propane-powered track dryers that NASCAR will add to its fleet starting this season. These dryers are used alongside NASCAR’s Air Tundras, as well as traditional jet dryers utilized for drying the racetrack. As part of the partnership, Suburban Propane will provide on-site services for campers at each track property during NASCAR event weekends, and propane for in-stadium concessions.