Consumer Chief of the Month: Marion Quirk, Delaware Department of Justice

I joined the Delaware Department of Justice (the “DDOJ”) in August of 2017 after practicing in the Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE legal communities for 19 years. Before joining the DDOJ, I heard from a friend who worked at the DDOJ that it was a special place – (i) challenging work; (ii) great colleagues who are always willing to lend a hand; and (iii) the privilege of helping Delawareans. Those aspects of the job have rung true for me.

My first experience in the consumer protection world was the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy in September of 2019. Before joining the DDOJ, I practiced corporate restructuring (a.k.a. bankruptcy) with major national and regional law firms so I was asked to join our Delaware team working on opioid litigation. It was certainly a busy Fall with Purdue’s bankruptcy filing. I enjoyed getting to know and work with colleagues across the country, including attending a few in-person Purdue court hearings in 2019. I continued to work on the Purdue case through plan confirmation and now during the appeal.

I became the Director of Consumer Protection for the DDOJ in September of 2020. Within the first month, there were several multi-state settlements that I took over from my predecessor. I appreciated Abby Stempson of NAAG getting in touch with me right away to set up a call to provide the NAAG Consumer Protection background. I reach out regularly to colleagues in other states to ask for assistance and have found without exception that I get a quick response back with an offer to chat and help. I will gladly return the favor any time.

I attended my first NAAG in-person CP events this Fall. It was terrific to meet so many folks that I have connected with over the phone or via video. Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings spoke at the NAAG CP conference in November. She mentioned that Delaware has seen quite an uptick in gift card scams this year, particularly targeting the elderly. Through discussions at the conference, I learned that the Arizona Attorney General’s Office successfully partnered with businesses to provide consumer education about gift card scams. Of course, when I called up a colleague at the AZ AGO to chat about their experience, I received an immediate response back and great tips that we can use in Delaware. We are taking steps to partner with Delaware businesses and are hopeful that our coordinated efforts will help reduce those scams.

I have boy/girl twins who are 8.5 years old. My children heard me talk on the phone quite a bit last year since part of their 2020-2021 school year was remote. At this time, neither of my children want to be a lawyer because they do not like chatting on the phone. However, my children did learn about consumer scams and how to stop them!