On October 13, 2026, Cook County Circuit Court Judge James E. Hanlon, Jr. ruled in favor of Jenner & Block client Chancelor J. Bennett, known as Chance the Rapper, on his breach of fiduciary duty claim against former manager Patrick Corcoran, finding that Corcoran breached his fiduciary duties in multiple instances. The ruling closes a nearly six-year dispute.
The Court held that Corcoran acted as Chance’s agent, and therefore his fiduciary, in managing Chance’s music, touring, and merchandise business. It found that Corcoran collected undisclosed kickbacks from Chance’s merchandise vendors on Chance’s own orders while also receiving management compensation from Bennett for those same orders, and wrongfully registered the chanceraps.com domain in his own name, along with a variety of other breaches of fiduciary duties to Chance. The Court ordered Corcoran to disgorge the vendor kickbacks, forfeit the 15 percent management compensation attributable to merchandising during the period, and transfer Chance’s domain to Chance within 14 days.
The ruling is the second half of the case, following the high-profile March jury trial victory for Bennett in his breach of contract dispute with Corcoran. The fiduciary duty claim was decided by the judge because it called for remedies only a judge can award. The Court’s current ruling is significant for many reasons, including because it is the first decision to confirm that a manager who represents an artist is a fiduciary and owes the artist fiduciary duties.
The team was led by Partners Precious Jacobs, Wade Thomson, and April Otterberg.
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