Michael Hanrahan Defends Delaware’s Courts from a Law Professor’s Error-Filled Criticisms

August 08, 2025

Prickett, Jones & Elliott, P.A. Director Michael Hanrahan defends Delaware state courts and two Court of Chancery judges in his written response to a Law Professor’s error-ridden conclusion that attorneys’ fees awarded in Delaware state courts “would raise the eyebrow” of federal courts. Mr. Hanrahan explains that Delaware fee awards are based on longstanding equitable legal principles and, primarily, the percentage of the benefit conferred. He observes that the Professor ignores that federal courts also rely on the percentage-of-the-benefit method and tend to award a higher percentage of the benefit than Delaware state courts. Mr. Hanrahan also points out how the Professor’s analysis is riddled with errors, including an arbitrary lodestar cut-off, incorrect inclusion and intentional exclusion of certain fee awards and speculative statistics, resulting in biased and misleading conclusions conforming only to the Professor’s past unsuccessful efforts to influence Delaware courts both through amicus filings and client representations.

The paper is titled “There is No Basis for a Delaware Lodestar Cap: A Response to Professor Grundfest.” It is available on SSRN at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5363663