Retired Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland — the youngest person appointed to the Delaware Supreme Court and longest-serving Justice in the Court’s history — has died, Delaware courts announced Wednesday. 

“The Delaware Judiciary mourns the loss of one of our greatest public servants,” said Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr. who served with Justice Holland from 2015 to 2017. “Randy Holland served on the Delaware Supreme Court for over 30 years. He wrote cogent and authoritative opinions in all areas of the law that have withstood the test of time. He championed the highest ethical standards for Delaware lawyers and judges. As president of the American Inns of Court, he worked to further its nationwide mission to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. Most recently, he chaired a court committee to work on bail reform in domestic violence cases. What Justice Randy Holland will be most remembered for is his kindness, humility, and graciousness, and his personal notes written with a blue felt tip pen. The Supreme Court will recognize this giant of a man in a future event. His family will be in our prayers.”

Justice Holland was a Milford High School alum who graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He as appointed and reappointed to the Delaware Supreme Court by three different governors and served with four different chief justices during his tenure on the bench.

At his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1986 by Gov. Mike Castle, Justice Holland became the youngest person ever to serve on the state’s highest court and went on to also become the Court’s longest serving Justice at his retirement in March 2017. Throughout his 30 years on the bench, Justice Holland wrote more than 700 reported opinions and several thousand case dispositive orders.

“Delaware just lost one of its true servants,” said former Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr., who served with Justice Holland from 2014 to 2017. “No one loved our state or its bar more than Justice Holland. Through his dedication to the judicial craft, his fostering of bench-bar relations through the Inns of Court movement, his preservation of our state’s history, and his concern for the most vulnerable of litigants – particularly the children served by our Family Court – Randy made our state a better place and burnished its reputation as a legal center of excellence. We will miss his friendship and are profoundly sorry for his family’s irreplaceable loss.”

During his years on the Court, Justice Holland was known as not only an expert on state constitutional law but also as an avid historian of Delaware and the Delaware Supreme Court. He authored or co-authored 10 books, including two books on the Delaware Constitution, two histories of the Delaware Supreme Court, and a History of the Delaware Bar in the Twentieth Century in addition to many law review articles.

“Justice Holland was a great and historic jurist of the Court,” said former Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey, who served with Justice Holland from 1992 to 2004. “Indeed, he was a quintessential and intellectual jurist, with an extraordinary grounding in the law and a marvelous sense of fairness and equity."

He commended his long service to the court.

"Not only was he historically long-serving as a jurist but also he was an extraordinarily gifted and scholarly writer, having authored or coauthored nine books and treatises as well as innumerable articles," he added. "Above all, he was a warm and noble human being – a truly good man in all respects. He was devoted to his wife of 50 years, Dr. Ilona Holland, their son, Ethan, daughter-in-law, Jen, and their granddaughters, Rori and Chloe. He will be missed in ways we have not begun to fathom by all who knew him, worked with him, and admired him.”

Justice Holland graduated from Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he received the Loughlin Award for legal ethics. He later earned a Master of Laws in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia Law School and was awarded honorary Doctor of Law degrees by the Delaware Law School and Swarthmore College.

Justice Holland taught corporate governance, appellate practice and state constitutional law and frequently focused on business ethics. He travelled internationally to advance corporate governance and ethics including working with the justice system in Taiwan. On several occasions he hosted visiting delegations from Taiwan to Delaware.

After leaving the Delaware Supreme Court, he became Senior of Counsel in the Wilmington office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. In 2018 the Randy J. Holland Family Law Endowment was created in his honor for the Combined Campaign for Justice to fund a full-time fellowship position to serve the family law needs for low-income families.

In a statement, the Delaware Senate Majority Caucus — led by Judiciary Committee Chair Kyle Evans Gay, President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola, Majority Leader Bryan Townsend and Majority Whip Elizabeth Lockman — called Justice Holland "one of the most intelligent, compassionate and dedicated jurists Delaware has ever known."

"In an arena in which impressive resumes are the norm, Justice Holland stood out in every respect," their statement continued. "We were blessed to work alongside Justice Holland over the last five months as he guided us through unexplored sections of the Delaware Constitution. During that time, we discovered Justice Holland’s reputation was well deserved, but also somehow fell short of capturing the kindness, humor, and grace he brought to every meeting and phone call."

House Democratic Caucus Leadership — Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst and Majority Whip Larry Mitchell — said they were stunned by the news and shared "in the immense grief of his loss."

“The legacy Justice Holland leaves behind is unmatched in the history of Delaware jurists and all who dedicate their lives to public service in our state," the statement continued. "Many of us had the great privilege to have known Justice Holland personally and developed cherished friendships with him over the course of our lives and careers. He was eminently thoughtful, completely trustworthy, and utterly kind. The state of Delaware and all of us who call it home are better off because of the life and work of Justice Randy Holland.”

Gov. John Carney called Justice Holland's passing a "tremendous loss for our state."

“Justice Holland made his mark in our history books by serving on Delaware’s highest court longer than anyone else. He was a thoughtful, model jurist and will be greatly missed," he said in a statement. "Tracey and I are praying for Justice Holland’s family, and his many friends across our state, during this difficult time.”

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., called Justice Holland "one of Delaware’s great leaders, and a good friend."

"I had the honor of reappointing him to his second term on the Delaware Supreme Court when I was Governor, and by his retirement in 2017, he made history as the longest serving justice in Delaware’s history, serving 30 years. His longevity on the bench is a result of his broad knowledge of the law and of our State, and the respect and professionalism he upheld on and off the bench," he said.

He added that he was more than a Supreme Court Justice. 

“Delaware has one of the most highly regarded judiciaries as any state in America and Justice Holland was able to capture that in his written work," he said. "Our hearts go out to his wife, Ilona, and their entire family. Delaware — and its judicial system — is a better place because of his service on the bench.”