Opinions Digested in Delaware Law Weekly for the Issue of
CIVIL PRACTICE Pleadings l Motion to Amend l Rule 15(a) l Undue Delay l Prejudice In re Integrated Health Services, Inc. DeFAX Case No. D63030 (D.Del. Sept. 12, 2007).
The court refused to allow amendment of a pleading where there was undue delay in filing the motion to amend and where amending the pleading would cause undue prejudice. Motion to amend denied.
APPEALS Interlocutory Appeal l Final Judgment l Writ of Certiorari l Order of Remand l Nature Mayor and Town Council of Town of Elsmere DE v. DiFrancesco DeFAX Case No. D63026 (Del. Supr. Sept. 21, 2007).
The Superior Court’s order of remand after granting landowner’s petition for a writ of certiorari constituted a final judgment because the remand to the town council was for the purely ministerial purpose of having the town council grant the landowner’s subdivision application. Rule to show cause discharged.
CIVIL PRACTICE Pleadings l Filing of Complaint l Wrong Format l Statute of Limitations Bryant v. Bayhealth Medical Center, Inc. DeFAX Case No. D63028 (Del. Supr. Oct. 18, 2007).
Although counsel should have e-filed the complaint and praecipe, his paper filing with the prothonotary, followed by his e-filing the next day, was sufficient to toll the statute of limitations; and the Superior Court erred in dismissing the action as time-barred due to counsel’s admission by default that the praecipe filed on June 21 was the only legally cognizable praecipe. Reversed and remanded.
CRIMINAL PRACTICE Sufficiency of Evidence l Second-degree Assault l Dangerous Instrument l Lacrosse Stick Carter v. State DeFAX Case No. D63032 (Del. Supr. Aug. 29, 2007).
The evidence was insufficient to sustain a delinquency finding of second-degree assault where, under the circumstances, defendant’s use of a lacrosse stick to strike his stepfather did not satisfy the statutory definition of a dangerous instrument. Reversed and remanded.
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION Arbitration l Action to Enjoin Arbitration l Failure to Request Expedited Treatment l Confirmation of Award Orner v. Country Grove Investment Group LLC, DeFAX Case No. D63033 (Del. Ch. Oct. 12, 2007).
The Court of Chancery refused to vacate an arbitration award where plaintiff failed to expedite her court action seeking to enjoin the scheduled arbitration and failed to participate in the arbitration process. Arbitration award confirmed; motion to vacate dismissed.
BUSINESS LAW Shareholder Suit l Breach of Fiduciary Duty l Time-barred Claims In re Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. Shareholder Litig. DeFAX Case No. D63027 (Del. Ch. Oct. 17, 2007).
Because the amended complaint alleged wrongs that rationally flowed from the parties’ 1986 agreement and because plaintiffs were or should have been aware of these claims for far more than three years before filing this action, plaintiff’s claims for breach of fiduciary duty were time-barred. Motions to dismiss granted.
CIVIL PRACTICE Trial Administration l Lifting of Stay l Filing of Amended Complaint l Discovery CBOT Holdings, Inc. v. Chicago Bd. Options Exchange, Inc. DeFAX Case No. D63029 (Del. Ch. Oct. 10, 2007).
Plaintiffs were not entitled to the lifting of a recently imposed stay in order to file a third amended complaint and commence discovery because there was little risk of the loss of material evidence and because amending the complaint now would accomplish little. Motion to lift stay denied.
CIVIL PRACTICE Releases l General Release l Ambiguity l Extrinsic Evidence State Human Relations Comm’n ex rel. Price v. Apartment Communities Corp. DeFAX Case No. D63031 (Del. Super. Oct. 26, 2007).
In this fair housing case, defendant was not entitled to summary judgment on the basis of a general release plaintiff signed in a personal injury action because a reasonable person would have believed that the general release did not encompass plaintiff’s
fair housing claims. Motion for summary judgment denied.
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