Corliss Haslet
Founding partner
Owner disputes and contract cases, in the Court of Chancery and in arbitration.
Civil litigation in Wilmington
For the smaller party in a business lawsuit
Haslet & Tilghman is a three-lawyer firm for minority owners, family companies, subcontractors and policyholders, suing or being sued, in court and in arbitration.
$318,000
Jury verdict on an unpaid supply contractDismissed
Fraud claim against a minority member
Invented sample matters. Past results don't guarantee a similar outcome; the figure is gross, before fees and costs.
What we hold to
Plain promises, each one tested in a file
A promise is only worth the matter behind it. These are sample matters an owner of this site would replace with real ones.
- Sample matter · Contract
We read the contract before the complaint.
A Newark parts supplier was sued over late shipments. The agreement required written notice and thirty days to cure, and neither had happened. The buyer withdrew the claim and paid the open invoices.
Contract disputes - Sample matter · LLC
A minority owner is still an owner.
Two members of a three-member LLC stopped sharing the books with the third. A records demand, then a motion, produced five years of ledgers and a buyout at an appraiser's price.
LLC and partnership disputes - Sample matter · Lease
A lease means what it says, including the part nobody read.
A Trolley Square restaurant was threatened with eviction in a fight over a leaking roof. The lease put the roof on the landlord. The case settled with three months of rent credited back.
Commercial property disputes - Sample matter · Coverage
A denial letter opens an argument; it doesn't end one.
A machine shop's insurer refused to defend it when a customer sued. The policy's own wording required a defense. The insurer took over the case and repaid the shop's legal bills to date.
Insurance coverage disputes
Sample verdicts and settlements
Where three disputes came to rest
$146,500
Settlement · Withheld earn-out
The buyer of a family heating company stopped paying the earn-out after one year. It settled on the second day of depositions.
2025 · Sample matter
Gross amount, before the firm's fee and costs.
Defense verdict
Bench trial · Commercial lease
A landlord sued a bakery for two years of rent after it left a flooded space. The judge found the landlord had refused to repair.
2024 · Sample matter
One lease and one set of facts; another case will differ.
$88,000
Arbitration · Subcontractor's retainage
A masonry subcontractor's final payment was held back over a punch list. The arbitrator ordered the balance paid with interest.
2024 · Sample matter
Amount before fees; each side paid its own costs.
Invented sample matters, shown to illustrate the work. Past results don't guarantee a similar outcome; every case turns on its own documents, witnesses and court.
The firm
Three lawyers who each know the whole file
Every case has a partner on it from the first call to the last hearing, and an associate who knows the documents as well as the partner does.
Bertrand Tilghman
Partner
Jury trials, commercial property and insurance coverage cases.
Lisette Vanterpool
Associate
Contract and LLC cases, and the briefs in every matter the firm takes.
Insights
Reading for the week a lawsuit arrives
Short, plain guides by the firm's lawyers. General information only, not advice on your case.
Being suedThe first fourteen days after you're served
What to keep, who to tell, what not to say to the other side, and why the deadline on the summons matters more than the complaint.
Lisette Vanterpool6 min read
Owner disputesBefore you sue your business partner
The operating agreement, the books and the buyout clause: three things to read before a dispute between owners goes to court.
Corliss Haslet7 min read
Bring the papers you were served, or the contract you want enforced
On the first call a lawyer tells you whether we can take the case, what the next deadline is, and what the first stage would cost.