Delaware Legal Intel

Kimberly Hollenback, VOCA Supervising Attorney and Media Office Managing Attorney for Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, received an Illumination Award at the Delaware County Bar Association President's Dinner held January 17, 2025.

The Delaware State Bar Association has updated its homepage featuring a mobile app download, upcoming CLEs and events, and Court of Chancery updates.

The Delaware Bar Foundation works to improve the administration of justice in Delaware by providing legal services for the poor and promoting study and research.

Client trust funds and the firm's operating funds must never commingle, even temporarily, even with the intent to "fix it later." Bar audits look for two things first: (1) any check or transfer that touches both accounts, (2) negative balances on any specific client's ledger. Both are presumptive misappropriation regardless of intent.

Beyond civil-rights and consumer-protection statutes, many DE jurisdictions have fee-shifting provisions in landlord-tenant, mechanics' lien, insurance bad-faith, and construction-defect contexts. Pleading the fee-shifting statute in the complaint is typically required to preserve the right to recover.

Arbitration clauses are most often struck down for procedural unconscionability — surprise placement, font that hides them, or no opportunity to negotiate — rather than substantive issues. A clause that is conspicuous, separately initialed, and accompanies a clear written notice of waiver of jury trial survives review in most jurisdictions.