Supreme Court nominee Morgan Zearn defends rejection of AMC settlement, emphasizes following the law

Morgan Zearn, Governor Myers’ nominee to the Delaware Supreme Court, appeared before the Senate Executive Committee to introduce herself and answer questions about her judicial approach, a controversial corporate-litigation decision and emerging courtroom issues such as artificial intelligence.

Zearn told the committee she has nearly 20 years in public service, including a decade on the Delaware Court of Chancery. Describing a class-action matter involving AMC, she said she initially declined to approve the parties’ proposed settlement because technical aspects of Delaware representative-litigation law required further work. "The parties reconfigured the settlement and I approved it quickly," she said. "I would decide it the same way." Zearn added that the aftermath included social-media criticism and even security threats but that her decisions were guided by her understanding of Delaware law.

The committee probed how she defines the role of an appellate justice. Zearn said a justice’s job is to "review questions of law" presented on appeal, apply the proper standard of review, and to resolve disputes ‘‘with an emphasis on unanimity’’ and on narrow grounds when possible. "My North Star is to follow the law," she said, framing the judiciary as distinct from the policy-making role of the legislature.

Members also asked about the risks AI may pose to the courts. Zearn said courts must proceed cautiously as AI alters legal research and document preparation, noting particular concerns about "hallucinated citations" in briefs and the need to litigate rules for authenticating AI-generated materials. She told senators the court is engaging with technology experts and legal counsel to learn how to handle evidence and submissions that rely on machine-generated content.

Senators pressed Zearn on access to justice and recruiting diverse law clerks. She described efforts to broaden recruiting beyond the usual law-school pipelines and to use technology to make it easier for unrepresented litigants to file materials and participate without physically delivering documents.

The hearing concluded with members thanking Zearn for her testimony. The committee moved on to the next nominee; the transcript does not record a confirmation vote during this session.