Delaware Chancery Court judges sitting as arbitrators must hold public hearings and cannot exclude the public and news media, a federal judge decided, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The decision, by U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin in Philadelphia, came in a case brought last year by the Delaware Coalition for Open Government against chief Delaware Chancery Court Judge Leo Strine and his four associates over a new practice of designating a judge as an arbitrator before closing the courtroom. "An arbitrator and a judge perform very different functions," McLaughlin decided in a 26-page opinion today. "The First Amendment protects a qualified right of access to criminal and civil trials." David Finger, the attorney who filed the case, said that the ruling will strengthen the courts and improve the economy of private arbitration using lawyers and retired judges who are experts in Delaware law.
