Chance the Rapper has scored another courtroom victory in his long-running legal battle with former manager and business partner Pat Corcoran, with a Cook County judge ruling that Corcoran breached his fiduciary duty and must give up merchandise-related commissions and management fees that could total as much as $1.5 million.
The ruling, issued by Cook County Circuit Court Judge James E. Hanlon Jr., resolves the last major claim left over from Chance’s March jury trial against Corcoran, better known during their years together as Pat the Manager.
“I’m grateful to close this chapter of my life finally and can’t wait to eventually tell my side of the story,” Chance, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, said in a statement. “I’m thankful to the courts and, more importantly, to God for remaining faithful.”
The legal fight dates back to 2020, when Corcoran sued Chance after being fired following an eight-year partnership that helped take the Chicago rapper from mixtape sensation to Grammy winner without a traditional major-label deal.
Corcoran claimed an unwritten 2013 agreement entitled him to 15 percent of Chance’s net profits from recording, touring and merchandise, along with a three-year post-termination “sunset clause.” He sought roughly $3.8 million in unpaid commissions and expenses. Chance denied that such a post-termination arrangement existed and countersued, accusing Corcoran of breach of contract, interference, and self-dealing.
In March, a Cook County jury rejected Corcoran’s $3.8 million claim. Chance technically won portions of his countersuit as well, although the jury awarded him just $35 in damages. The remaining fiduciary-duty issue was left for Hanlon to decide separately.
That is where the merchandise business became critical.
Hanlon found that Corcoran was collecting his 15 percent management fee from Chance while also receiving payments from merchandise vendors doing business with theRapperr.
In his ruling, the judge found that Corcoran owed Chance a duty of loyalty in those transactions and that the undisclosed vendor payments constituted a conflict. Corcoran has now been ordered to surrender those commissions and forfeit the portion of his management fee tied to merchandising.
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The exact amount has not yet been determined. Chance’s team estimates it could reach $1.5 million, and the two sides have until a final hearing on November 30 to reach agreement on the figure. If they cannot, the court will decide.
Corcoran must also return control of ChanceRaps.com, the domain he registered in his own name in 2013 and continued to control throughout the litigation. The court ordered that ownership be transferred back to Chance by October 28.
The ruling was not a complete sweep for Chance.
Hanlon rejected his request for punitive damages and declined to force Corcoran to surrender all the compensation he earned during their years together. The judge also rejected portions of Chance’s claims involving outside ventures including UnitedMasters, We Are the Times, the film project Hope and Chicago’s Ramova Theatre, where Chance is now a co-owner.
A spokesperson for Corcoran emphasized that distinction, saying the court rejected Chance’s effort to recover more than $10 million and recognized that Corcoran performed years of valuable work that benefited the artist.
Still, the latest ruling adds another victory for Chance in a dispute between two people whose partnership was once held up as a blueprint for how an independent artist could build a career outside the traditional music-industry system.
Corcoran began managing Chance in 2012 and was alongside him through the releases of Acid Rap and Coloring Book, the latter helping Chance win three Grammys in 2017. Their relationship ended in 2020 after tensions surrounding The Big Day and its reception.
More than six years later, the fight over what that handshake partnership actually meant is finally nearing its end.
And there is at least one lesson here that applies well beyond hip-hop:
Put it in writing.
