One of the most vexing and contentious business disputes in the history of the Delaware Chancery Court has now sparked a kerfuffle for former Vice President Joe Biden as he runs for president.

Shirley Shawe, a shareholder of TransPerfect and the mother of CEO Philip R. Shawe, has spent $500,000 on an ad criticizing Biden, a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination and longtime U.S. Senator from Delaware, for his alleged support of the Delaware Court of Chancery, which oversaw a protracted legal battle between the Shawes and a former part owner that resulted in the rare forced sale of the company. The 60-second ad, which is highly critical of the Chancery Court, is set to run in the battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The ad begins with Biden, who represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate for 36 years, appearing to offer praise for the Chancery Court during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. The ad then goes on to criticize the court as lacking transparency and accountability and then names Delaware Court of Chancery Chancellor Andre G. Bouchard, saying the court has resisted "every attempt to bring much needed transparency into the court."