A tiff between two judges in Delaware continued Thursday when the chief justice of the state’s supreme court threw some thinly veiled criticism at the head of the state’s business court.
During a panel discussion at an M&A conference, Chief Justice Myron T. Steele criticized judges, who make comments outside of written legal opinions and include personal ruminations that aren’t necessarily a legal issue in the matter.
“Every time they open their mouth they make the law,” Steele said Thursday, discussing how he would love to get that idea into the heads of judges. Steele said it was inappropriate to force lawyers to read transcripts in order to determine the law.
But for the lawyers in the audience at the Tulane University’s Corporate Law Institute’s gathering, the likely target of his comments was clear: Delaware Chancellor Leo Strine Jr.
Last fall the supreme court had issued a rebuke of Strine in a formal opinion that had the legal world abuzz.
Strine, who declined to comment but will speak at the conference Friday, is famous for colorful opinions full of long analogies and pop-culture references.