TOP STORIES

Judicial Panel Orders Removal of Family Court Judge Henriksen 
A panel composed of the top judges across all of Delaware’s state courts has decided to remove Sussex County Family Court Judge John E. Henriksen from

Amended Complaint Filed After Judge Dismisses Bradley Negligence Claims 
The Delaware Superior Court has dismissed most of the negligence claims filed against a state hospital, the Medical Society of Delaware and several individual doctors for allegedly failing to report suspicious behavior by convicted child molester and former pediatrician Earl Bradley, but the court allowed certain claims against the medical society and two doctors to proceed.

THIS WEEK'S DIGESTS

In re Federal-Mogul Global Inc. 
Counsel: Danielle M. Spinelli And Craig Goldblatt - Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr - attorneys for appellants Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, First State Insurance Company and New England Insurance Company. David C. Christian II - Seyfarth Shaw - attorney for appellants Columbia Casualty Company, Continental Casualty Company and The Continental Insurance Company. John D. Demmy - Stevens & Lee - attorney for appellants Fireman's Fund Insurance Company and National Surety Company. Eileen T. McCabe - Mendes & Mount; Michael A. Shiner - Tucker Arensberg; Russell W. Roten and Richard W. Riley - Duane Morris - attorneys for appellants Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London and Certain London Market Companies. William A. Evanoff and Jeffrey C. Steen - Sidley Austin; Laura D. Jones And James E. O'Neill, III, - Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones - attorneys for appellees Federal-Mogul Global, Inc. Kathleen C. Davis - Campbell & Levine; Peter Van N. Lockwood - Caplin & Drysdale - attorneys for appellee Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants. Edwin J. Harron and Sharon M. Zieg - Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor - attorneys for appellee Eric D. Green, Legal Representative for Future Asbestos Claimants of Federal-Mogul Global Inc.

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. v. Actavis Mid Atlantic LLC 
Plaintiffs' discovery requests were overbroad where they were not focused on the allegedly infringing product or similar products, but sought a company-wide survey into products that were unrelated to the field of use of the subject product. Discovery requests modified.

CyberFone Systems, LLC v. Echostar Technologies LLC 
Even if defendants were correct that plaintiff's original patent infringement complaints violated Fed.R.Civ.P. 20 because they did not allege joint infringement or any relationships or common activities among the individual defendants, severance was the correct remedy for this alleged misjoinder. Motion to dismiss denied.

One-Pie Investments, LLC v. Jackson 
Defendant property owner successfully redeemed her property after a monition action even though she redeemed by making payment to the sheriff, per the sheriff's instructions, rather than to the purchaser as provided in §4-148 of the City of Wilmington Code. Affirmed.

In re Answers Corp. Shareholder Litigation 
Counsel: Jessica Zeldin - Rosenthal, Monhait & Goddess, P.A.; Arthur N. Abbey, Stephen T. Rodd and Stephanie Amin-Giwner - Abbey Spanier Rodd & Abrams, LLP - attorneys for plaintiffs. Kevin R. Shannon, Berton W. Ashman, Jr., and Andrew E. Cunningham - Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP; Jonathan M. Wagner, Adina C. Levine and Susan Jacquemot - Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP - attorneys for defendants Answers Corporation, Robert S. Rosenschein, Mark A. Tebbe, Yehuda Sternlicht, Mark B. Segall, Lawrence S. Kramer, W. Allen Beasley and R. Thomas Dyal. William M. Lafferty and D. McKinley Measley - Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP; David J. Berger, Steven Guggenheim, Diane M. Walters and Luke A. Liss - Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation - attorneys for defendants AFCV Holdings, LLC, A-Team Acquisition Sub, Inc. and Summit Partners L.P.

Wagamon v. Dolan 
While plaintiff could point to no evidence to support the allegations of the complaint, defendant filed no affidavit of his own to demonstrate the lack of an issue of fact and, thus, summary judgment was not appropriate. Consideration of defendant's motion for summary judgment deferred.

Parker v. Wireman 
All defendants were entitled to summary judgment on the basis of immunity since the state had not waived sovereign immunity in this case and the state employees were immune under the State Tort Claims Act. Defendants' motion for summary judgment granted.

Slicer v. Hill 
Counsel: Gary S. Nitsche - Weik, Nitsche & Dougherty - attorney for plaintiffs. Matthew O. Donelson - Elzufon, Austin, Reardon, Tarlov & Mondell, P.A. - attorney for defendant Oekos Kirkwood, LLC. Brian M. Gottesman - Berger Harris - attorney for defendants DLR Properties and Able Associates. David G. Culley - Tybout, Redfern & Pell - attorney for defendant Kohl's Department Stores Inc. Stephen J. Milewski - White & Williams LLP - attorney for defendant Westfield Insurance Co. Nicholas E. Skiles - Swartz Campbell LLC - attorney for defendant Michele R. Hill.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Fish & Richardson Attorney Selected as Diversity Fellow 
Tara D. Elliott, a principal in Fish & Richardson’s intellectual property litigation group in the firm’s Wilmington office, was selected for the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s 2012 fellows program.

AGs Ask Congress for More Funds for Crime Victims 
Fifty-one attorneys general joined together in asking Congress to raise funding for local and state assistance programs for victims of crime through a federal grant program.

Berger Harris Adds a Partner 


Suzanne H. Holly joined Berger Harris as a partner.

Holly heads the firm’s alternative dispute resolution practice and is in the firm’s litigation practice. She has experience helping parties resolve business and tort disputes through ADR, and also focuses her practice on business and commercial litigation involving contract disputes and business torts. She represents clients before the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Delaware Court of Chancery and the Delaware Superior Court.

Holly is also a member of both the litigation and ADR sections of the Delaware State Bar Association. She received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University and her law degree from Penn State University’s Dickinson School of Law. She was formerly a senior attorney with Potter Anderson & Corroon.

More Headlines

Great Recession Leaves Its Mark on Del. Legal Market 
A recent survey of law firms found that more than 75 percent believe that pricing pressure, alternative fee arrangements and efficiency measures will remain part of the legal business even after the Great Recession has faded to a painful memory.

Securities Law Firms Examining Playboy's Plan to Go Private 
Securities law firms are looking at whether to take on Playboy Enterprises over its plan to take the company private, with one firm already out of the gate with a lawsuit.

Carper Pushes for Senate Vote on District Judge Nomination 
U.S. Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., took to the Senate floor last week to urge his colleagues to vote on the nomination of Magistrate Judge Leonard P. Stark to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Court rejects ATP appeal by German Tennis group  
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a challenge from the German Tennis Federation to a court decision that cleared the way for the ATP Tour's tournament restructuring.

Superior Court Reverses Denial of Access Discrimination Decision 
The Kent County Superior Court has ruled that subjectively offensive and rude treatment does not constitute a denial of access to public accommodations proscribed by Delaware's anti-discrimination statutes.

Connolly Bove Makes 'Hot List' 
Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz was one of 20 firms to appear on the "Midsize Hot List" published by The National Law Journal on July 12. It was the only Delaware-based firm to appear.

Joseph Elected President Of NACTT 
Michael B. Joseph, a partner in the Wilmington firm Ferry Joseph & Pearce, has been elected president of the National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees, the firm announced on July 13.