A week after Rev. Al Sharpton took aim at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in decrying a lack of diversity in the Delaware legal system, Skadden defended its record Monday, welcoming a conversation on the topic but accusing a pro-business advocacy group of co-opting the issue for its own gain.

In a strongly worded Dec. 30 letter to Skadden executive partner Eric Friedman, Sharpton chastised the law firm for having few minorities in its Wilmington, Delaware, office and lamented the overall lack of racial diversity in the state's legal industry. The reverend also announced that he planned to commission a study to better understand how "diverse perspectives are represented in one of the state's most prominent and lucrative industries."

Skadden countered Monday that it was founded on values of diversity and inclusion. "We agree with civil rights advocates that diversity on the bench and throughout the legal profession should be a priority in Delaware and globally, and we are proud that the first two female justices on the Delaware Supreme Court were attorneys at Skadden," Wilmington office leader Robert Saunders wrote in a letter to Sharpton.

But while Saunders wrote that Sharpton's support for greater diversity "resonates" with the firm, Skadden went on the offensive in a separate, related statement concerning the advocacy group Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware, which has recently worked with Sharpton in the state and which publicly praised the reverend's targeting of the firm.

CFPBD began as a public relations effort during TransPerfect Global Inc.'s long and winding road through the Chancery Court system in Delaware. Initially made up of TransPerfect employees—and closely aligned with the interests of co-founder Philip Shawe—the group focused on advocating against the allegedly unfair treatment of corporations in the state.

After Shawe purchased the company in full and the major legal battles were over, the group continued to operate as what it describes as a "watchdog" group to stop "unjust and corrupt treatment of businesses" in the state of Delaware.

Sharpton, meanwhile, was featured by CFPBD in a series of ads run by the group that promoted the diversification of Delaware's court system in late 2019. Skadden's statement Monday suggested the letter from Sharpton and promoted by CFPBD was part of a larger effort by the organization to attack Skadden over its involvement in the sale of TransPerfect.

TransPerfect is a translation company formerly run by co-founders Shawe and Elizabeth Elting. After a highly contentious falling out between the two, former Skadden partner and then-Chancery Court Judge Andre Bouchard ordered a forced sale of the company. The decision raised some eyebrows, and the sale was overseen by now-retired Skadden attorney Robert Pincus.

Shawe ended up purchasing the outstanding shares and taking over the company, and he emerged as an impassioned critic of the Chancery Court system and of Skadden, which he accused in a lawsuit of "questionable billing."

In its statement Monday, Skadden suggested that the recent push to highlight the firm's diversity record in the state was simply an extension of a TransPerfect-sparked "vendetta" against the firm.

"While we are firmly committed to continuing our work with leaders throughout the legal community and more broadly to address this systemic issue, we reject attempts by Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware ("CFPBD")—a group comprised primarily of employees of TransPerfect—to co-opt the conversation of diversity and inclusion in Delaware as a means to further their vendetta against our firm and former partner, who we represent in his capacity as the court-appointed custodian who oversaw the sale of TransPerfect," the firm's statement said.

The statement continued: "As noted by the Multicultural Judges and Lawyers Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, 'the CFPBD has only recently feigned interest in diversity in an attempt to legitimize its long history of personal attacks on Chancellor Andre Bouchard and the Court of Chancery arising out of an adverse ruling against the TransPerfect company and its multi-millionaire owner, Philip Shawe.'"

Chris Coffey, head of New York practice for Tusk Ventures and campaign manager for CFPBD, issued a statement in response to Skadden:

"It's not shocking in the least that the same firm responsible for suppressing the voices of those advocating for basic human rights in the Ukraine would now shift its focus towards slinging mud at a grassroots organization with 5,000 members seeking to improve diversity in the historically white and male Delaware court system. We spent over $1 million advocating for diversity in Delaware last year. What did they do?"

Coffey continued: "The fact is that out of 72 lawyers in Delaware, Skadden has barely a handful of African American lawyers in a state that's almost 30% black. it's 2020 and it's time for a change."

Representatives for Sharpton didn't respond to requests for comment Monday.

Skadden recently ranked 56 out of 225 firms surveyed for their record on diversity, according to ALM data.

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