I moved on to the Delaware Supreme Court in 2000 and served there as a justice for four years before becoming the chief justice in 2004. All of that varied experience obviously colored my ability to serve as chief justice, having been on the two major trial courts, having litigated in front of them, and I had my fair share of appellate work along the way.
"fairness” played a role?
There’s no question. Absolutely. Everyone in this system that I have observed now over 43 years works very hard to do the right thing for the right reason, but also is keenly aware that human frailties and foibles will prevent absolute perfection.
There is no question. It seems to me that politics drives the federal approach. It seems to me that there is an assumption that if Congress says it is so or delegates the power to an agency that says it’s so, and then it must be right. That is not the way we apply the law in Delaware. We apply it here contextually, yes, because no factual situation is the same. We have general principles that apply, and we believe strongly that we should adhere to those principles, but we believe that every case is different and the law has to be flexible enough to be accommodative while at the same time providing a level of predictability, consistency, and clarity that is so important.
In Delaware, we are not ideologues. We have apolitical appointments to the bench; all courts of significance have to be balanced with no more than a majority of one political party. We’ve taken politics out of the legal system, and it has been that way since our last constitution. By not being ideological and by being more clinical, we think we have the right balance.
"He is smart and tough, and he will be sorely missed," said Michael Kelly, a Wilmington attorney with McCarter & English.
"He is sort of an ambassador of the state really, because what the courts do is so important," said Larry Hamermesh, a professor at Widener University School of Law in Wilmington.
The majority of large U.S. businesses incorporate in the state, in part to gain access to the judiciary, which has a reputation for speed and consistency.
“We are honored” to have Steele join the firm, Executive Chairman Donald J. Wolfe Jr. said in an e-mailed statement. “He has served on all three of Delaware’s constitutional courts, led what most would agree is the most respected state judiciary in the country, and served as Delaware’s judicial ambassador at large.”
“He has been a tireless and forceful advocate for our state’s judiciary and indeed, for the entire State of Delaware,” Governor Jack Markell said when Steele’s retirement was announced in September 2013.
Potter Anderson, founded in 1826, is the oldest Delaware law firm which Justice Steele joined in Jan 2014
