• Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Estate of Malkin

    Publication Date: 2022-06-07
    Practice Area: Insurance Law
    Industry: Financial Services and Banking | Insurance
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Traynor
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: A. Thompson Bayliss, Stephen C. Childs, Abrams & Bayliss LLP, Wilmington, DE; Ginger D. Anders, Donald B. Verilli, Jr., Brendan B. Gants, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Washington, DC; Stephen L. Caponi, Matthew B. Goeller, K&L Gates LLP, Wilmington, DE; Samuel O. Patmore, Jenea M. Reed, Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A. for appellants.
    for defendant: Donald L. Gouge, Jr., Donald L. Gouge, Jr., LLC, Wilmington, DE; Gregory J. Star, Michael L. Miller, Joseph M. Kelleher, Cozen O’Connor P.C., Philadelphia, PA for appellee.

    Case Number: D69841

    Bona fide purchaser or securities intermediary could not assert UCC defenses to estate's claim to recover death benefit from stranger-originated life insurance policy since Delaware public policy precluded any party from profiting off an illegal wager on human life.

  • Brock v. Dep't of Serv. for Children, Youth, & Their Families

    Publication Date: 2022-02-22
    Practice Area: Family Law
    Industry:
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Vaughn
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Phillip Renzulli, Law Office of Edward J. Fornias, Wilmington, DE for appellant.
    for defendant: Jonathon C. Harting, State of Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington, DE; Renee D. Duval, Office of the Child Advocate, Wilmington, DE for appellees.

    Case Number: D69724

    There was no error in relying on parent's prior involuntary termination of rights to other children in terminating parental rights to another child where evidence supported finding that termination was in the child's best interests.

  • Page v. Oath, Inc.

    Publication Date: 2022-02-01
    Practice Area: Communications and Media
    Industry: Consulting | Technology Media and Telecom
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Seitz
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Sean J. Bellew, Bellew LLC, Wilmington, DE; Todd V. McMurtry, Hemmer DeFrank Wessels, PLLC, Ft. Mitchell, KY; K. Lawson Pedigo, Miller Keffer & Pedigo, PLLC, Dallas, TX for plaintiff below, appellant.
    for defendant: T. Brad Davey, Jonathan A. Choa, Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP, Wilmington, DE; Elbert Lin, David M. Parker, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Richmond, VA; Jonathan D. Reichman, Jennifer L. Bloom, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, New York, NY, for defendant below, appellee.

    Case Number: D69696

    The court held that plaintiff was required to plead actual malice in his defamation suit against defendant who owned online news organizations and published articles concerning investigation into plaintiff's connection to Russian figures because the articles were substantially true.

  • AB Stable VIII LLC v. MAPS Hotels & Resorts One LLC

    Publication Date: 2021-12-21
    Practice Area: Mergers and Acquisitions
    Industry: Hospitality and Lodging
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Seitz
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Raymond J. DiCamillo, Kevin M. Gallagher, Sarah A. Clark, John M. O’Toole, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Theodore N. Mirvis, William Savitt, Sarah K. Eddy, Ryan A. McLeod, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, NY; Theodore B. Olson, Amir C. Tayrani, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Washington, D.C.; Adam H. Offenhartz, Marshall R. King, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, New York, NY for appellant.
    for defendant: A. Thompson Bayliss, Michael A. Barlow, April M. Kirby, Stephen C. Childs, Abrams & Bayliss LLP, Wilmington, DE; Kathleen M. Sullivan, Michael B. Carlinsky, William B. Adams, Christopher D. Kercher, Rollo C. Baker IV, Todd G. Beattie, Jonathan E. Feder, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, New York, NY; Kap-You Kim, Peter & Kim Attorneys at Law, Seoul, South Korea for appellees.

    Case Number: D69651

    Seller of hotel businesses breached ordinary course covenant by making material changes to operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the covenant did not contain a material adverse event exception and where seller failed to obtain buyer's consent to the changes.

  • Brookfield Asset Mgmt., Inc. v. Rosson

    Publication Date: 2021-10-06
    Practice Area: Corporate Entities
    Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Valihura
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Kevin G. Abrams, Eric A. Veres, Stephen C. Childs, Abrams & Bayliss LLP, Wilmington, DE; John A. Neuwirth, Stefania D. Venezia, Amanda K. Pooler, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, NY for appellants.
    for defendant: Ned Weinberger, Derrick Farrell, Mark Richardson, Labaton Sucharow LLP, Wilmington, DE; Peter B. Andrews, Craig J. Springer, David M. Sborz, Andrews & Springer LLC, Wilmington, Delaware; Steven J. Purcell, Douglas E. Julie, Robert H. Lefkowitz, Kaitlyn T. Devenyns, Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, New York, NY; Jeremy S. Friedman, David F.E. Tejtel, Friedman Oster & Tejtel PLLC, Bedford Hills, NY for appellees.

    Case Number: D69560

    Court overruled the Gentile carve-out doctrine where it created analytical tension with Tooley and other legal doctrines permitted stockholders to pursue direct claims for fiduciary breaches.

  • Country Life Homes, LLC v. Gellert Scali Busenkell & Brown, LLC

    Publication Date: 2021-09-01
    Practice Area: Legal Malpractice
    Industry: Financial Services and Banking | Legal Services | Real Estate
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Vaughn
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Patrick K. Gibson, Ippoliti Law Group, Wilmington, DE for appellants.
    for defendant: Carol A. Vanderwoude, Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, Art C. Aranilla, Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, P.C., Wilmington, DE for appellee.

    Case Number: D69520

    Former clients sufficiently pled legal malpractice cause of action by alleging that legal counsel negligently advised clients to pursue litigation strategy that had no merit, resulting in clients incurring unnecessary litigation expense.

  • Coster v. UIP Co., Inc.

    Publication Date: 2021-07-21
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Seitz
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Max B. Walton, Kyle Evans Gay, Connolly Gallagher LLP, Wilmington, DE; Michael K. Ross, Thomas Shakow, Serine Consolino, Sean Roberts, Aegis Law Group LLP, Washington, DC for plaintiff.
    for defendant: Stephen B. Brauerman, Elizabeth A. Powers, Bayard, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Deborah B. Baum, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Washington, DC for defendants.

    Case Number: D69471

    Chancery court erred in ruling that stock sale to break shareholder deadlock and avoid shareholder's action for appointment of a custodian for the company was permissible if the stock was sold at a fair price, as the company and its board and other shareholder were obligated to demonstrate a compelling justification for conducting the sale.

  • State of Delaware, Dep't of Fin. v. AT&T Inc.

    Publication Date: 2021-06-16
    Practice Area: Administrative Law
    Industry: State and Local Government | Technology Media and Telecom
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Seitz
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Melanie K. Sharp, Martin S. Lessner, Mary F. Dugan, Michael A. Laukaitis II, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, Wilmington, DE for plaintiff.
    for defendant: Brian M. Rostocki, Benjamin P. Chapple, Reed Smith LLP, Wilmington, DE; Sara A. Lima, Reed Smith LLP, Philadelphia, PA for defendant.

    Case Number: D69437

    Where defendant made a particularized showing regarding an improper purpose in connection with an agency's issuance of a governmental subpoena, the court was entitled to request further submissions before deciding the matter.

  • LCT Capital, LLC v. NGL Energy Partners LP

    Publication Date: 2021-02-10
    Practice Area: Damages
    Industry: Energy | Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Montgomery-Reeves
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Steven L. Caponi, K&L Gates, LLP, Wilmington, DE; Roger R. Crane, Thomas A. Warns, K&L Gates, LLP, New York, NY for plaintiff.
    for defendant: Steven T. Margolin, Samuel L. Moultrie, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Wilmington, DE; Hal S. Shaftel, Obiamaka P. Madubuko, Daniel Friedman, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, New York, NY for defendants.

    Case Number: D69292

    The trial court properly ordered a new trial on quantum meruit damages, but it abused its discretion in or-dering a new trial regarding damages for fraud, because plaintiff presented a unified theory of recovery which did not support an independent basis for awarding fraud damages.

  • Murfey v. WHC Ventures LLC

    Publication Date: 2020-07-29
    Practice Area: Corporate Entities
    Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Delaware Supreme Court
    Judge: Justice Valihura
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Carl D. Neff and E. Chaney Hall, Fox Rothschild LLP, Wilmington, DE for plaintiff.
    for defendant: John J. Tumilty, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton, P.C., Waltham, MA; Raymond J. DiCamillo and John M. O’Toole, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE for defendant.

    Case Number: D69067

    The chancery court erred by reading a "necessary and essential" requirement into a partnership books and records request.