• Hart v. Parker

    Publication Date: 2020-07-22
    Practice Area: Motor Vehicle Torts
    Industry: Insurance
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Montgomery-Reeves
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Melissa L. Rhoads, Esquire, Tighe & Cottrell, P.A., Wilmington, DE for appellants.
    for defendant: Scott L. Silar, Esquire, Reger Rizzo & Darnell LLP, Wilmington, DE for appellees.

    Case Number: D69056

    Plaintiffs could bring claim against an estate outside the eight-month limitations period where judgment on such claims would be paid by a decedent's insurance carrier.

  • Dohmen v. Goodman

    Publication Date: 2020-07-08
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Seitz
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Sarah M. Ennis, Morris James LLP, Wilmington, DE; Andrew B. Holmes and Matthew D. Taylor, Holmes, Taylor, Cowan & Jones LLP, Los Angeles, CA for appellant
    for defendant: Rodney Smolla, Wilmington, DE; Jeffrey C. Engerman, Law Offices of Jeffrey C. Engerman, P.C., Los Alamitos, CA for appellee.

    Case Number: D69038

    General partner had no duty of disclosure in a request for capital contribution directed at an individual limited partner, requiring the limited partner to prove reliance and causation to recover on a fiduciary duty claim.

  • Overstock.com, Inc. v. State of Delaware ex rel. French

    Publication Date: 2020-07-08
    Practice Area: Whistleblower Laws
    Industry: E-Commerce | State and Local Government
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Vaughn
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael P. Kelly, Matthew J. Rifino, Hayley J. Reese and Matthew Wright, McCarter & English, LLP, Wilmington, DE and Washington, DC for Overstock.com, Inc.
    for defendant: Thomas E. Brown, Edward K. Black and Stephen G. McDonald, Deputy Attorney Generals, Wilmington, DE for the state. Laina M. Herbert and Vivek Upadhya, Grant & Eisenhofer, Wilmington, DE for plaintiff French.

    Case Number: D69045

    The failure to file a statement regarding expired gift cards with the state escheat office did not amount to a false statement under the Delaware False Claims and Reporting Act. Reversed.

  • Borealis Power Holdings Inc. v. Hunt Strategic Util. Inv., L.L.C.

    Publication Date: 2020-06-10
    Practice Area: Corporate Entities
    Industry: Energy
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Traynor
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Richard I. Werder, Jr., Renita Sharma, Elisabeth B. Miller, and Ryan A. Rakower, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, New York, NY; William M. Lafferty, Thomas W. Briggs, Jr., Daniel T. Menken, and Aubrey J. Morin, Morris Nichols Arsht&Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE for appellant Borealis Power Holdings.Neil A. Sterner, Dechert LLP, New York, NY; Blake Rohrbacher, Brian S. Yu, and Kevin M. Regan, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE for appellant Cheyne Walk Investments.P. Clarkson Collins, Jr., Ian D. McCauley, and Kathleen A. Murphey, Morris James LLP, Wilmington, DE for appellant Texas Transmission Investment.
    for defendant: Jessica B. Pulliam, Monica Hughes Smith, Baker Botts L.L.P., Dallas, Texas; Vernon Cassin, Baker Botts L.L.P., Washington, D.C.; Peter J. Walsh Jr., J. Matthew Belger, Andrew H. Sauder, Potter Anderson &Corroon LLP, Wilmington Delaware for Hunt Strategic Utility Investment, L.L.C. J. Christopher Shore, Alice Tsier, andVivake Prasad, White & Case LLP, New York, NY; Aaron Colodny, White & Case LLP, Los Angeles, CA; David C. McBride, Martin S. Lessner, Ryan M. Bartley, and Paul J. Loughman, Young, Conaway, Stargatt& Taylor, LLC, Wilmington, DE for appellees.

    Case Number: D69006

    Right of first refusal in separate investor rights agreement did not supersede right of first offer on transfer of equity stake in separate corporate entity where the right of first refusal only applied to minority member of the company subject to the investor rights agreement and transferor was not a minority member.

  • Chavis v. State

    Publication Date: 2020-06-10
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Vaughn
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Bernard J. O’Donnell, Assistant Public Defender, Wilmington, DE for appellant.
    for defendant: Kathryn J. Garrison, Deputy Attorney General, Dover, DE for appellee.

    Case Number: D69008

    Trial court erred in admitting evidence of prior convictions where admission was based solely on second-hand knowledge of the underlying facts of those prior cases and their supposed similarity to the facts of the present case.

  • Spintz v. Div. of Family Serv.

    Publication Date: 2020-05-20
    Practice Area: Family Law
    Industry: State and Local Government
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Montgomery-Reeves
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Islanda L. Finamore, Dep’t of Justice, Wilmington, DE for the state.
    for defendant: Stephen E. Jenkins, Ashby & Geddes, Wilmington, DE for respondent.

    Case Number: D68989

    Delaware law required the Department of Family Services to send notice prior to filing a petition for substantiation.

  • Cooper v. State

    Publication Date: 2020-04-29
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Vaughn
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: James F. Brose, The Brose Law Firm, Media, PA; Stephanie Volturo and Jan A. T. van Amerongen, Jr., Office of Conflicts Counsel, Wilmington, DE for appellant.
    for defendant: Sean P. Lugg, Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington, DE for appellee.

    Case Number: D68959

    Confidential informant testimony and controlled buys corroborated by independent police surveillance were sufficient to establish a nexus in a search warrant application between defendant's residences and business location and the evidence of drugs and weapons sought by police.

  • Wiggins v. State of Delaware

    Publication Date: 2020-04-22
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Montgomery-Reeves
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Nicole M. Walker, Office of the Public Defender, Wilmington, DE for Wiggins.
    for defendant: Matthew C. Bloom , Dep’t of Justice, Wilmington, DE for the state.

    Case Number: D68957

    The court vacated a felony drug conviction and remanded for sentencing for a lesser-included misdemeanor, because the state failed to meet its burden of proving that the contents of a vial constituted a "mixture" under Delaware's Controlled Substances Act.

  • Chavis v. State

    Publication Date: 2020-04-22
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Traynor
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Nichole M. Walker, John K. Kirk, and Lisa M. Schwind, Wilmington, DE for appellant.
    for defendant: Brian L. Arban, Department of Justice, Wilmington, DE for appellee.

    Case Number: D68950

    Use of lab analysts' reports by testifying analyst who also participated in DNA profile matching did not violate defendant's Confrontation Clause rights where reports were non-testimonial because they did not substitute for testimony that would be used to prove an essential element of the crime.

  • In re: Asbestos Litig.

    Publication Date: 2020-04-08
    Practice Area: Products Liability
    Industry: Chemicals and Materials
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Valihura
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Adam Balick and Patrick J. Smith, Balick & Balick, LLC, Wilmington, DE; Bartholomew J. Dalton, Ipek K. Medford, Andrew C. Dalton, Michael C. Dalton, Dalton & Associates, P.A., Wilmington, DE for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: Loreto P. Rufo, Rufo Associates, PA, Hockessin, DE; John V. Work, Law Office of John V. Work, Wilmington, DE; Joseph S. Naylor, Swartz Campbell, LLC, Wilmington, DE; Paul A. Bradley and Stephanie A. Fox, Maron Marvel Bradley Anderson & Tardy, LLC, Wilmington, DE; Brian D. Tome, Reilly McDevitt & Henrich, Wilmington, DE; John C. Phillips and David A. Bilson, Phillips Goldman McLaughlin & Hall, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Christian J. Singewald and Rochelle Gumapac, White and Williams LLP, Wilmington, DE; Kelly A. Costello, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Wilmington, DE; Timothy A. Sullivan III, Wilbraham, Lawler & Buba PC, Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: D68936

    Motion to extend trial date denied where plaintiffs failed to meet good cause standard after failing to develop factual record required by Texas asbestos law after two extensions to trial date.