Kathaleen McCormick

Kathaleen Saint Jude McCormick (born 1979) is an American lawyer and judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery, first as a vice chancellor from 2018 to 2021 and then as the current chancellor since 2021. She is the first female chancellor in Delaware history.

Career McCormick was born in Dover, Delaware, and grew up in Smyrna, Delaware. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Harvard University, and her Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School.

In September 2018, Governor John Carney nominated McCormick and Morgan Zurn to two new vice-chancellor positions on the Delaware Court of Chancery. These appointments raised the total number of judges on the court from five to seven, the first such expansion since 1989. Carney noted that McCormick's experience would make her "an immediate asset to the court."

In April 2021, she was nominated by Delaware Governor John Carney as Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, following the mid-term resignation of the former Chancellor Andre Bouchard. The Delaware Senate confirmed McCormick, and she began her 12-year term on May 6. McCormick is the first woman to lead the court since it was established in 1792. The case was among the first "busted deal" cases that emerged as mergers and acquisitions buyers sought to avoid closing mergers after the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the businesses of many merger targets. The plaintiffs were Snow Phipps Group, LLC a private equity firm, and DecoPac Holdings, Inc., the parent company of KCake, a cake decorations company. Over Musk's objections, McCormick granted Twitter's motion for expedited treatment of the lawsuit and set a trial date for October 2022. Twitter asked the court to enter an order of specific performance, effectively forcing Musk to close the deal. Observers noted that in the KCAKE case in 2021, McCormick had granted the same relief that Twitter sought, forcing the buyer in that case to close the transaction. The deal closed on October 28, 2022. Commentators praised McCormick's "no-nonsense approach" as having been instrumental in resolving the dispute.

In January 2024, McCormick voided Elon Musk's $55 billion Tesla pay package in the case of Tornetta v. Musk, et al. She then ruled that the size of the pay package was extraordinary and unfair. In June 2024, following the court decision, Tesla shareholders reapproved the package with about 77% support. The Delaware Supreme Court overturned McCormick's decision in December 2025, restoring Musk's compensation package and awarding $1 in nominal damages.