The chief judge on Delaware’s Court of Chancery has announced that he is resigning from his post early next year.
Chancellor Andre Bouchard sent a letter to Gov. John Carney on Monday announcing that he plans to retire from the bench effective April 30, roughly seven years after he was sworn into a 12-year term of office in 2014.
As chancellor, Bouchard has been chief judge on the Chancery Court, which is known for handling high-profile disputes involving some of the nation’s largest companies, many of which are incorporated in Delaware.
Bouchard did not specify any reasons for his retirement but officials said in a statement that he wants to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests.
Bouchard also has been a frequent target of criticism from a group called Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware and from New York businessman Philip Shawe. The group was formed in 2016 after Bouchard ordered the sale of a translation services company called TransPerfect because Shawe and fellow co-founder Elizabeth Elting, his former fiancee, were hopelessly deadlocked over its management.
Last week, attorneys for Shawe and TransPerfect filed a federal lawsuit against Bouchard over billings by an attorney Bouchard appointed as a custodian to oversee the sale of TransPerfect.
According to the lawsuit, Bouchard has ordered TransPerfect to pay more than $45 million in fees and expenses to the custodian, his law firm and other advisers while refusing to allow Shawe access to billing and fee details unless he agrees to “gag orders” preventing the information from being disclosed to the public.
“Such secret and private proceedings deprive the public in Delaware and the nation of information about how the Court of Chancery operates and about its relationships with Delaware law firms … thereby understandably undermining public confidence in the Delaware courts,” the complaint states.