In LCT Capital, LLC v. NGL Energy Partners LP and NGL Energy Holdings LLC, C.A. No. N15C-08-109 MAA CCLD, plaintiff LCT Capital originally asserted claims for breach of contract, quantum meruit/unjust enrichment, and fraudulent misrepresentation against NGL arising out of NGL’s failure to pay LTC for services performed in connection with its acquisition of…

In Connorex-Lucinda, LLC v. Rex Res Holdings, LLC, et al., C.A. No. N22C-01-186 EMD CCLD, Judge Davis denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s breach of contract claims.  The underlying dispute arose after Connorex-Lucinda, LLC and REX Res Holdings, LLC entered into an LLC agreement to create joint venture Rex Residential Venture, LLC (“Venture”).  As…

In the last quarter of 2022, the Complex Commercial Litigation Division (“CCLD”) remained busy, with the CCLD’s four judges addressing issues stemming from contract cases, including LLC disputes.  Judge Adams, who was recently appointed as a CCLD judge, also provided a helpful glimpse into how the CCLD prepares cases for trial in resolving several Daubert…

In an increasingly complex geopolitical and economic climate, commercial real estate professionals will need to bring creativity and flexibility to transactions to adapt to ever-shifting market conditions. The headlines are pessimistic: the war in Ukraine is entering its second year, the United States has hit the debt ceiling and Goldman Sachs has laid off 3,000 staff…

The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has announced today that Judge Andrews will take senior status at the end of December of 2023, although he intends to retain a full caseload.  The notice is available here.…

Just over three years ago, the Delaware Supreme Court held in Marchand v. Barnhill that the failure to maintain an internal monitoring system that could have prevented a deadly listeria outbreak gave rise to an actionable oversight claim against the board of directors under In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation. Although the Delaware Supreme Court…

Welcome to the latest edition of the Richards, Layton & Finger Intellectual Property Law Update.  As always, if you have questions about any of the decisions discussed below or the District of Delaware in general, please let us know. Judge Noreika Excludes Expert Damages Testimony for Failure to Apportion Value in LicenseIn Rex Medical L.P. v.…

In Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC v. Apotex Corp., No. 20-804-RGA (Sept. 15, 2022), Judge Andrews adopted the recommendation of Magistrate Judge Hall that claim preclusion should bar the plaintiff’s assertion of infringement of one of the asserted patents.  The parties had litigated the patent at issue in an earlier case, after which the plaintiff had amended claims…

In ArcherDX, LLC v. Qiagen Sciences, LLC, No. 18-1019-MN (Sept. 30, 2022), Judge Noreika granted the defendants’ request for remittitur.  The plaintiffs had prevailed at trial on patent infringement claims.  The jury had awarded more than $1.5M in domestic reasonable royalty damages to the plaintiffs, which the parties agreed was a mistake—as the defendants noted, the…

In Victaulic Company v. ASC Engineered Solutions, LLC, No. 20-887-GBW (Oct. 3, 2022), Judge Williams denied the defendant’s request under Fed. R. Civ P. 42(b) first to try the parties’ contract dispute and separately to try their patent infringement dispute later only if needed.  The plaintiff alleged that the defendant manufactured products that fell outside the…