Everything about The Delaware Court Of Chancery totally explained
The
Delaware Court of Chancery is a
court of
equity in the
American state of
Delaware. It is one of Delaware's five constitutional courts, along with the
Supreme Court,
Superior Court, Family Court, and
Court of Common Pleas.
Jurisdiction
The Court's jurisdiction is a hybrid of constitutional provisions, statutes, and case law.
According to the Delaware Judicial Information center
“The Court of Chancery has jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters and causes in equity. The general equity jurisdiction of the Court is measured in terms of the general equity jurisdiction of the High Court of Chancery of Great Britain as it existed prior to the separation of the American colonies. The General Assembly may confer upon the Court of Chancery additional statutory jurisdiction. In today's practice, the litigation in the Court of Chancery consists largely of corporate matters, trusts, estates, and other fiduciary matters, disputes involving the purchase and sale of land, questions of title to real estate, and commercial and contractual matters in general. When issues of fact to be tried by a jury arise, the Court of Chancery may order such facts to trial by issues at the Bar of the Superior Court of Delaware. (10 Del. C., 369).”
Article IV, Section 10 of the Delaware Constitution establishes the Court and provides that it "shall have all the jurisdiction and powers vested by the laws of this State in the Court of Chancery." The Court has one Chancellor, who is the chief judicial officer of the Court, and four Vice Chancellors. It also has one Master in Chancery, who is assigned by the Chancellor and Vice Chancellors to assist in matters as needed.
Equitable jurisdiction
Title 10, Section 341 of the Delaware Code states that the Court "shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters and causes in equity." Subsequent decisions have held that the Court's equitable jurisdiction is the same as that held by the English High Court of Chancery at the time of American independence in
1776.
The Court's most significant power is its ability to issue preliminary and permanent
injunctions and
temporary restraining orders. This is frequently exercised in the context of disputes involving
mergers and acquisitions or sales of corporations, wherein a corporate suitor or a shareholder will attempt to enjoin -- that is, prevent -- the sale or merger of a corporation, claiming that their stock value has been diluted or that they've superior rights to purchase the corporation. In a typical sale or merger dispute, a plaintiff will seek a temporary restraining order, sometimes on an
ex parte basis, to prevent the transaction from taking place and preserve the
status quo. If the Court grants that relief, the plaintiff will then seek a preliminary injuncton to maintain the current state of affairs until a trial can take place.
Title 10, Section 342 of the Delaware Code provides that the Court shan't hear any matters for which an adequate remedy exists at law or which can be heard by any other Delaware court. As a practical matter, this means that the Court can't grant relief in the form of money damages to compensate a party for a loss or where another court has coterminous jurisdiction. However, under the rules of equity, the court can grant monetary relief in the form of
restitution by ruling that another party has unjustly gained money that belongs to the plaintiff.
Apart from its general equitable jurisdiction, the Court has jurisdiction over a number of other matters. First, the Court has sole power to appoint guardians of the property and person for mentally or physically disabled Delaware residents. Similarly, the Court may also appoint guardians for minors, although the Family Court has coterminous jurisdiction over such matters.
Will contests and disputes over interpretations of
trusts are also heard by the Court.
In
1952, the court of Chancery would decide in the case of
Gebhart v. Belton that the operation of segregated school systems in Delaware were unlawful, two years before the U.S. Supreme Court would do so in
Brown v. Board of Education.
Procedure
The Court sits without a jury. All issues of fact are determined by the presiding Chancellor or Vice Chancellor. The Court has the discretion to appoint an advisory jury if it so desires, but this power is practically never exercised.
History
The history of the Court of Chancery stems back to the English
common law system, in which separate courts were established to hear
law and
equity matters. English law courts included the
Court of King's Bench (or Queen's Bench when the monarch was female), the
Court of Common Pleas, and the
Court of the Exchequer. The sole English court of equity was the
High Court of Chancery.
Along with the remainder of the original
Thirteen Colonies,
Delaware imported the English concept of
common law. This included establishing a separate Court of Chancery. As the legal system evolved in England, the English High Court of Chancery was eventually abolished and its powers merged into the law courts. Most American jurisdictions followed suit.
In its first Constitution, the
Delaware Constitution of 1776, there was no special provision for a court of equity. However, when the constitution was revised in the
Delaware Constitution of 1792 a separate Court of Chancery was established. This constitution was heavily influenced by thinking of
John Dickinson and
George Read. William T. Quillen and Michael Hanrahan in their
Short History of the Delaware Court of Chancery repeat the “folklore of the Delaware bench and bar, saying that the impetus for creating a Court of Chancery was to provide a new judicial seat for Delaware's first Chancellor, William Killen.” Killen was the elderly and highly respected incumbent Chief Justice of Delaware, and when
George Read was considered to be the new Chief Justice of Delaware, he refused unless adequate provisions were made for Killen. A separate Court of Chancery under Killen was the solution.
Constitution of 1792
There was one Chancellor, appointed by the Governor for life.
Constitution of 1831
There was one Chancellor, appointed by the Governor for life.
Constitution of 1897
There was one Chancellor, appointed by the Governor for a 12 year term. There were also created over the years, additional Vice Chancellors, the first in 1939, a second in 1961, a third in 1984, and a fourth in 1989. They were also appointed by the
Governor for a 12 year term, but are required to be equally divided between the major political parties, so that among all the Chancellors no party has a majority of more than one person.
| Vice Chancellors of Delaware |
| Name |
Took Office |
Left Office |
Residence |
Party |
notes |
| George B. Pearson, Jr. |
1939 |
1946 |
|
|
1st |
| Collins J. Seitz |
February 1 1946 |
1951 |
|
|
1st |
| Howard W. Bramhall |
1951 |
1954 |
|
|
1st |
| William Marvel |
September 8 1954 |
September 1976 |
|
|
1st |
| Maurice A. Hartnett |
1976 |
1994 |
|
|
1st |
| Myron T. Steele |
1994 |
2000 |
|
|
1st |
| John W. Noble |
November 2000 |
present |
|
|
1st |
| Isaac D. Short |
1961 |
1973 |
|
|
2nd |
| Grover C. Brown |
1973 |
1982 |
|
|
2nd |
| Joseph S. Longobardi |
1982 |
1984 |
|
|
2nd |
| Joseph T. Walsh |
1984 |
1985 |
|
|
2nd |
| Jack B. Jacobs |
1985 |
2003 |
|
|
2nd |
| Donald F. Parsons |
October 22 2003 |
|
|
|
2nd |
| Carolyn Berger |
1984 |
1994 |
|
|
3rd |
| Bernard S. Bolick |
1994 |
1998 |
|
|
3rd |
| Leo E. Strine, Jr. |
November 1998 |
present |
|
|
3rd |
| William B. Chandler, III |
1989 |
1997 |
|
|
4th |
| Stephen P. Lamb |
1997 |
present |
|
|
4th |
Further Information
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