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In response to the lawsuit, Chancellor Leo Strine Jr., head of the Court of Chancery, issued a statement saying the law establishing the secret proceedings was designed to ensure that Delaware remains "the most attractive domicile in the world for the formation of business entities." The lawsuit was filed barely a month after California-based chip maker Advanced Analogic Technologies and Massachusetts-based semiconductor developer Skyworks Solutions Inc. disclosed in regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that they were seeking arbitration in a failed merger agreement. Because the arbitration petitions are not included on the court's public docketing system and all related documents are considered confidential unless an appeal is filed with the Delaware Supreme Court, the public has little way of knowing how often judges are involved in such proceedings. But in response to a query from The Associated Press, court officials disclosed that six arbitration cases had been filed as of April 2012. Following Wednesday's ruling, Democratic Gov. Jack Markell's office issued a statement by Andrew Pincus, one of several attorneys hired by Delaware to defend the law. The state was supported in its efforts by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives from the top U.S. companies. "We feel strongly that it is important to our nation and our state to provide cost-effective options to resolve business-to-business disputes to remain competitive with other countries around the world," Pincus said. "Given the importance of this issue, we will be evaluating the appellate options after we have an opportunity to further study the three opinions."
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