Opinion: Supreme Court Should Reject DE Arbitration Program

Yale Law Professor Judith Resnik opined in the New York Times against Delaware's effort to fight against the growing market in private dispute resolution by allowing litigants to use Delaware's chancery judges for secret arbitrations if the businesses had at least $1 million at stake, paid $12,000 in filing fees and paid $6,000 per day: "The Delaware legislation is a dramatic example of rich litigants using their resources to close court systems that taxpayers support and constitutions require. But the problem goes beyond Delaware. To honor constitutional commitments that 'all courts shall be open,' the court should refuse the Delaware judges’ request, and Congress should restore rights to public courts for consumer and employment disputes." A split Third Circuit ruled against the constitutionality of the program, and the Delaware Court of Chancery is seeking certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.