Judicial Officers
The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and four justices who are nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Delaware State Senate.
The justices are appointed for 12-year terms and must be learned in the law and citizens of Delaware. Three of the justices must represent one of the major political parties while the other two justices must be members of the other major political party.
From left to right: Justice Abigail M. LeGrow, Justice Karen L. Valihura, Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., Justice Gary F. Traynor, Justice N. Christopher Griffiths
View a historical list of all Delaware Supreme Court Justices.
Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr.
The Honorable Collins J. Seitz, Jr. was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware on November 8, 2019. He has served as a Supreme Court Justice since 2015. Prior to his appointment, Chief Justice Seitz founded a corporate advisory and litigation firm in Wilmington, Delaware representing clients in high profile corporate and trust disputes in the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Supreme Court. He was also a long-time partner in a large Wilmington, Delaware law firm, where he litigated corporate and intellectual property disputes.
Chief Justice Seitz serves as Judicial Liaison to the Corporate Laws Committee of the American Bar Association and is an Adviser on the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Corporate Governance. He also serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction. A member of the Delaware Bar since 1983, Chief Justice Seitz formerly served as a board member and chair of the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners, and a board member of the Board on Professional Responsibility. Federal and state courts appointed him as a Master and Trustee to oversee complex corporate, commercial, and intellectual property cases. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Chief Justice Seitz is a trustee of the American Inns of Court and serves as a board member of Hockessin Colored School 107C – an organization dedicated to celebrating Delaware’ role as one of the cases appealed in Brown v. Board of Education. He has led court efforts in Delaware to promote greater diversity in the Delaware Bar through the Delaware Bench and Bar Diversity Project. Under Chief Justice Seitz’s leadership, major changes were made recently to the Delaware Bar Exam to make the State a more attractive and welcoming place to practice law and engage in public service.
Chief Justice Seitz received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and his law degree from the Villanova University School of Law.
Justice Karen L. Valihura
The Honorable Karen L. Valihura was sworn in for her first term as Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware on Friday, July 25, 2014. Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr., administered the oath of office.
Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Valihura was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, where she practiced law since 1989. Her practice in complex commercial and corporate issues included federal and state securities fraud claims, mergers and acquisitions, and fiduciary duties of directors. Due to her preeminence in the field, Justice Valihura has been consistently selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America.
Justice Valihura served on the Advisory Board of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance and served as Chair of the Delaware Supreme Court's Board on Professional Responsibility and as Chair of the Delaware Supreme Court’s Permanent Ethics Advisory Committee on Delaware Rules for Professional Conduct. Justice Valihura served for eight years on the Corporation Law Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware Bar. Additionally, Justice Valihura served her community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Delaware Special Olympics for eighteen years and as a member of the Delaware Bar Foundation for eight years.
Justice Valihura received her undergraduate degree from Washington and Jefferson College in 1985, and her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She served as a law clerk to Judge Robert E. Cowen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Justice Gary F. Traynor
The Honorable Gary F. Traynor, was sworn in for his first term as Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware on July 5, 2017. Before his appointment, Justice Traynor was a practicing Delaware lawyer for 35 years.
A member of the Delaware Bar since 1982, Justice Traynor began his legal career with a small firm in Dover handling a diverse range of litigation matters. In 1990, he joined the firm of Prickett, Jones & Elliott, where he served as the firm’s Managing Director from 2005 to 2007. For his first ten years with the Prickett firm, Justice Traynor continued to focus on general litigation matters, including criminal defense, personal injury litigation, and domestic relations disputes. In 1999, he transitioned to the firm’s corporate and commercial litigation practice where he remained until leaving the firm in 2014 to join the State of Delaware Office of Defense Services where he served as an Assistant Public Defender defending major felony cases until his appointment in 2017.
Justice Traynor received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1978, and earned his law degree from Delaware Law School of Widener University in 1982.
Before joining the state’s highest court, Justice Traynor served on the Delaware Supreme Court’s Board on Professional Responsibility from 2011 to 2017, and was an appointed member of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals’ Task Force on Management of Death Penalty Litigation from 1998 to 2001. Justice Traynor is a past-President of the Terry-Carey American Inn of Court.
In addition to his legal work, Justice Traynor was a commissioner on the Delaware River and Bay Authority from 2009 to 2014. He also served as an officer in the Delaware Army National Guard from 1990 to 1991.
Justice Abigail M. LeGrow
The Honorable Abigail M. LeGrow was sworn in for her first term as Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware on May 11, 2023. She previously served as a Judge of the Superior Court of Delaware from February 2016 to May 2023, where she was a member of the Superior Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division. Before her appointment to Superior Court, Justice LeGrow served as Master in Chancery on the Delaware Court of Chancery from October 2011 to February 2016.
Before joining the judiciary, Justice LeGrow practiced law at Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP, where she specialized in corporate and commercial litigation. She is a member of the Richard S. Rodney American Inn of Court (President 2021-2023).
Justice LeGrow received her J.D., summa cum laude, from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law and her B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from Susquehanna University. While in law school, Justice LeGrow was an editor of the Penn State Law Review and a recipient of the Walter Harrison Hitchler Award and the American Bankruptcy Law Journal Prize. After graduating from law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jack B. Jacobs of the Delaware Supreme Court.
Justice N. Christopher Griffiths
The Honorable N. Christopher Griffiths was sworn in for his first term as Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware on May 22, 2023. Prior to his appointment, Justice Griffiths was a partner at Connolly Gallagher LLP where his practice focused on administrative and government law, corporate and commercial litigation, bankruptcy law and general litigation representing municipalities and government agencies. Before joining the court, Justice Griffiths served on the Delaware Supreme Court Rules Committee, the Delaware Supreme Court Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, and the Delaware State Bar Association Nominating Committee.
Justice Griffiths received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and earned his law degree from the Villanova University School of Law.
In addition to his legal work, Justice Griffiths served on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club of Delaware, Children & Families First of Delaware, Ministry of Caring, Sacred Heart Village, the Wilmington Library, and the Delaware Law Related Education Center.
