Justia Delaware Court of Chancery Opinion Summaries

Defendant moved to dismiss this action under Court of Chancery Rule 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(3). Plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment regarding the validity of, and specific performance of, a putative settlement agreement, which, if enforced, would end its arbitration of a dispute with defendant that arose out of a commercial contract, the Professional Services and Procurement Agreement (PSPA). The court held that, to the extent that defendant argued that plaintiff's claims should be dismissed on grounds of forum non conveniens, defendant's motion was denied. The court also held that the action was dismissed without prejudice pending resolution of the arbitration process. View "Preferred Sands of Genoa, LLC v. Outotec (USA) Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff brought this lawsuit to challenge the approximately $42.5 million acquisition of American Surgical Holdings, Inc. (American Surgical) by AH Holdings, Inc. Now before the court was plaintiff's interim application for an award of attorneys' fees and expenses where plaintiff contended that an award of $450,000 was appropriate under Delaware law and would compensate his attorneys for bringing this action, which he argued resulted in American Surgical's corrective disclosures in its definitive proxy statement. The court denied plaintiff's Interim Application for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Expenses as it was premature where the amount of $450,000 was interim in nature because plaintiff's price and process claims remained viable. The court held that it would reconsider the application once plaintiff's remaining claims have been litigated. View "Frank v. Elgamal" on Justia Law

This case arose when plaintiff entered into an agreement with defendant under which he was entitled to advancement of expenses incurred in defending several actions arising out of his employment with defendant (Indemnification Agreement). At issue was whether the Special Master's fees fell within the definition of "Expenses" under the Indemnification Agreement. The court held that, in accordance with the terms of the Indemnification Agreement, defendant was solely responsible for any fees arising from a reasonableness review conducted by a special master. Therefore, the Special Master's fees were to be paid by defendant, along with any future amounts arising from similar proceedings before the Special Master. View "Fuhlendorf v. Isilon Systems, Inc." on Justia Law

This dispute arose from a preliminary injunction preventing defendants from demolishing a house on property they purchased in the Westover Hills Section C housing development and converting it to a grassy play area for their children. The court subsequently denied a permanent injunction and awarded defendants damages in the full amount of the accompanying injunction bond. Defendants appealed the amount of the bond and the related damages award. After careful consideration of the parties' arguments, briefs and supporting submissions, the court decided to set the injunction bond at $26,353 and, if necessary, to hold an evidentiary hearing promptly to determine defendants' damages. View "Service Corporation of Westover Hills v. Guzzetta, et al." on Justia Law

This matter involved a supposed "asset protection trust" (Henry's trust) settled by and for the benefit of respondent where petitioner, BNY Mellon Trust of Delaware (BNY), held a demand note representing a several hundred thousand dollar loan BNY had made to respondent, secured by the assets of his mother's estate and trust. At issue was whether BNY was entitled to summary judgment on the issue of breach of fiduciary duty in its management of Henry's trust. The court held that respondents failed to articulate a theory, and have failed to allege any specific facts, which would indicate that BNY acted in bad faith. The court also held that because respondent had failed to allege facts indicating that BNY's decision to pledge trust assets, and to liquidate and hold trust assets in cash, were taken in bad faith, summary judgment on the remaining fiduciary claims was appropriate. View "The Irrevocable Asset Protection Trust of Henry C. Rohlf" on Justia Law

This action arose from a technology-sharing relationship between plaintiffs and defendant where plaintiffs brought suit against defendant in January 2009 for, among other things, breach of contract based on defendant's alleged failure to perform its end of a bargain the parties had struck. Both parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. Having considered the parties' extensive submissions and their presentations at the argument held on March 1, 2011, the court decided to deny both motions because numerous issues of material fact remained in dispute. Nonetheless, the court made several summary judgment findings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d) regarding certain discrete issues where the facts were without substantial controversy. View "Petroplast Petrofisa Plasticos S.A. v. Ameron Int'l Corp." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, former shareholders and the representative and attorney-in-fact for all shareholders of Kinexus Corporation (Kinexus), commenced this action asserting claims against Advent Software, Inc. (Advent) for breach of contract and unjust enrichment arising out of a December 31, 2001 agreement entered into by Advent to acquire Kinexus. Advent subsequently moved to dismiss the action because of Kinexus' failure to prosecute and Advent argued that dismissal with prejudice was appropriate under Court of Chancery Rules 41(b) and 41(e). The court held that Advent's motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute was denied where the court was not convinced that these circumstances necessitated dismissal because of the court's preference for resolving cases on the merits and because Kinexus appeared to have renewed their efforts to diligently prosecute the matter. Accordingly, counsel were requested to confer and to promptly submit a case scheduling order so that discovery could be completed and a trial date could be established. View "Kinexus Representative LLC v. Advent Software, Inc." on Justia Law

Defendant Lockheed Martin Corporation d/b/a Lockheed Martin STS-Orlando (LMSTS) moved to bifurcate this action into a "Contract Interpretation Phase" and a "Damages Phase," and both LMSTS and plaintiff BAE Systems Information and Electronic System Integration Inc. (BAE) filed motions to compel. The court endorsed bifurcation where the litigation was indisputably complex and where both parties agreed, in principle, that bifurcation would be appropriate and have reached a substantial agreement regarding the issues to be determined during each phase of the action. Accordingly, the action was bifurcated into a "Contract Interpretation Phase" and a "Damages Phase." The court noted that bifurcation of the action effectively postponed the parties' need for much of the discovery they have requested. Accordingly, the court granted in part and denied in part BAE's and LMSTS' motions to compel. Finally, the court denied each party's request for attorneys fees because both BAE and LMST had good faith grounds for the positions taken. View "BAE Sys. Info. and Electonic Sys. Integration Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp." on Justia Law

This case arose when Del Monte Foods Company announced that it had agreed to be acquired by a consortium of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., Vestar Capital Partners, and Centerview Partners (collectively, Sponsors). A number of familiar entrepreneurial plaintiffs' firms filed putative class actions challenging the merger. Plaintiffs subsequently sought an interim award of attorneys' fees and expenses for causing defendants to issue supplemental disclosures and obtaining a preliminary injunction. The court held that the application for an interim fee award was granted with respect to benefits conferred by the Proxy Supplement. For those benefits, Lead Counsel was awarded fees and expenses of $2.75 million. Therefore, the court held that the application was otherwise denied without prejudice and could be renewed at a later time. View "In re Del Monte Foods Co. Shareholders Litigation" on Justia Law

This lawsuit stemmed from a failed venture between OverDrive, Inc. (OverDrive), a leader in the field of digital media distribution, and Baker & Taylor, Inc. (Baker & Taylor), a leading distributor of physical media, where OverDrive alleged numerous claims against Baker & Taylor contending that Baker & Taylor breached its exclusive distribution agreement with OverDrive and that it was disclosing OverDrive's proprietary trade secrets and confidential information. The court held that OverDrive's conversion, fraud, and "Breach of Contract - Exclusivity and Non-Compete Provisions" claims survived, as did OverDrive's claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and "Breach of Contract - Confidentiality Obligations", which were not challenged in this motion. The court held, however, that all other counts in OverDrive's complaint were dismissed. View "Overdrive, Inc. v. Baker & Taylor, Inc." on Justia Law