Information about Delaware Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Delaware is the sole appellate court in the United States' state of Delaware. Because Delaware is a popular haven for corporations, the Court has developed a worldwide reputation as a respected source of corporate law decisions, particularly in the area of mergers and acquisitions.^[1]

Seal of the Supreme Court of Delaware

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over direct appeals from the Superior Court, Family Court, and Court of Chancery. Because it is the only appellate court in the state, its jurisdiction over appeals from final orders is mandatory. However, it has discretionary jurisdiction over appeals from interlocutory orders.

The Court has original jurisdiction over writs of mandamus, prohibition, and certiorari. In addition, the Court regulates and has exclusive jurisdiction over matters concerning the admission and discipline of lawyers, the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection, continuing legal education requirements, and the unauthorized practice of law.

Constitutionally, the Chief Justice is the chief administrative officer of the entire Delaware judicial system and has the responsibility for securing funding for the courts from the Delaware General Assembly.

Procedure

Motions

Motions are normally handled in chambers by a motions justice. Arguments on motions are uncommon.

Oral argument

While the Court's appellate jurisdiction is mandatory, it is not required to hear oral argument. Approximately 60-75% of its decisions are rendered on briefs. If a case involves a novel question of law or the justices desire clarification, oral argument is called. Each attorney in oral argument is given 20 minutes to present its side, except for capital cases, in which each side is given 30 minutes.

Arguments are normally held each Wednesday beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Dover, the state capital. Occasionally, the Court will hear arguments in special locations, such as the Widener University School of Law. The Court has a courtroom in Wilmington, but it is rarely used.

History

The Court, in its current form, was established by means of a constitutional amendment in 1951. Before that, the Court had operated under the Delaware Constitution of 1897 as a unique "leftover-judge" system, wherein appeals were heard by a panel of three judges from either the Superior Court or the Court of Chancery who were not involved in the matter on appeal. In 1978, the Court's size was expanded from three to its current complement of five. Prior to 1897, Delaware's highest court was the Court of Errors & Appeals, which operated under a similar "leftover-judge" system.

Notable cases

Cheff v. Mathes (1964): First time Delaware Supreme Court addressed problems of board of director conflict of interest in a takeover setting. In this case, the court applied intermediate scrutiny to the board of director's decision to pay a bidder greenmail, stating that directors must have "reasonable grounds to believe a danger to corporate policy and effectiveness existed by the [the bidder's] stock ownership. [D]irectors satisfy their burden by showing good faith and reasonable investigation[.]"
Smith v. Van Gorkom (1985): Expanded the modern doctrine of the business judgment rule to include the duty of care, often called negligence. Under the general business judgment rule, a Delaware court will not second-guess the decisions of a board of directors absent a breach of one of three fiduciary duties: good faith, due care, or loyalty. A plaintiff may pierce the business judgment rule -- thereby receiving a more favorable analysis under the "entire fairness" standard -- if the plaintiff can show that the directors' decision lacked any rational basis (sometimes called waste).
Revlon v. McAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc. (1986): If a company is the target of an acquisition, the board of directors may engage in actions which enhance the value of the company's sale, but may not diminish its value.
Mills Acquisition Co. v. Macmillan, Inc. (1989): A board of directors may refuse a takeover attempt without submitting the matter to a vote of shareholders.
Paramount v. QVC (1993): If a board of directors is about to consider selling, dissolving, or transferring control of a corporation, they are prohibited from considering non-shareholder interests and have a duty to maximize shareholder value.
John Doe No. 1 v. Cahill (2005): An anonymous blogger's IP address will not be revealed via a subpoena directed to his or her internet service provider in a defamation suit, unless the plaintiff has alleged facts sufficient to overcome summary judgment. This decision has the practical effect of prohibiting SLAPP suits or similar litigation designed to quell dissent or unpopular comment. Cahill was the first suit of its kind in the nation; amicus curiae briefs were filed on behalf of the anonymous blogger by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_10.php
Unitrin, Inc. v. American General Corp.: Directors' power to block hostile takeovers

Judicial officers

Myron T. Steele, Chief Justice
Randy J. Holland, Justice
Carolyn Berger, Justice
Jack B. Jacobs, Justice
Henry du Pont Ridgely, Justice

External links

Supreme Court of Delaware
Widener University School of Law - Corporate Law Clearinghouse
shareholder litigation in Delaware
Supreme Court Internal Operating Procedures
* Maps and aerial photos for Coordinates:
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References

1. ^ Thomas Lee Hazen and Jerry W. Markham, Corporations and Other Business Enterprises (2003) ISBN 0-314-26476-0

	State of Delaware • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

In law, an appeal is a process for making a formal challenge to an official decision.

The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country.
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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State of Delaware

Flag of Delaware Seal
Nickname(s): The First State, The Small Wonder, Blue Hen State
Motto(s): Liberty and Independence

Capital Dover
Largest city Wilmington

Area
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Business law
Business organizations
Basic forms:
Sole proprietorship
Corporation
Partnership
(General · Limited · LLP)
Cooperative
USA:
Business trust · LLC · LLLP
Delaware corporation
Nevada corporation
UK/Commonwealth:
Limited company
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mergers and acquisitions (abbreviated M&A) refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly
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The Delaware Superior Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction in the state of Delaware. It has original jurisdiction over most criminal and civil cases (except for suits at equity, which are handled by the Delaware Court of Chancery).
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Court of Chancery was one of the courts of equity in England and Wales.

Overview

The High Court of Chancery was the court that developed from the Lord Chancellor's jurisdiction.
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Interlocutory is a legal term which can refer to an order, sentence, decree, or judgment, given in an intermediate stage between the commencement and termination of a cause of action, used to provide a temporary or provisional decision on an issue.
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A writ of mandamus or simply mandamus, which means "we command" in Latin, is the name of one of the prerogative writs in the common law, and is issued by a superior court to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties
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Prohibition of alcohol, often shortened to the term prohibition, also known as Dry Law, refers to a sumptuary law in a given jurisdiction which prohibits alcohol.
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Certiorari (pronunciation: \sər-sh(ē-)ə-ˈrer-ē, -ˈrär-ē, -ˈra-rē\) is a legal term in Roman, English and American law referring to a type of writ seeking judicial review.
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City of Dover
City |

West Loockerman Street in downtown Dover in 2006

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Widener University School of Law is an ABA accredited program which operates on two campuses, one in Wilmington, Delaware, and the other in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

History

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City of Wilmington
City |

Flag |

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An amendment is a change to the constitution of a nation or a state. In jurisdictions with "rigid" or "entrenched" constitutions amendments require a special procedure different from that used for enacting ordinary laws.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s
1894 1895 1896 - 1897 - 1898 1899 1900

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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The Delaware Supreme Court first addressed the issue of director conflict of interest in a corporate change of control setting in Cheff v. Mathes, 199 A.2d 548 (Del. 1964). This case is the progeny of future seminal corporate law cases including: Unocal Corp. v. Mesa Petroleum Co.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s
1961 1962 1963 - 1964 - 1965 1966 1967

Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator).

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Greenmail or greenmailing is a corporate acquisition strategy for generating large amounts of money from the attempted hostile takeovers of large, often undervalued or inefficient companies.
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Smith v. Van Gorkom or the Trans Union case, 488 A.2d 858 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1985) is an important Delaware Supreme Court decision, primarily because of its discussion of a director's duty of care.
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20th century - 21st century
1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
1982 1983 1984 - 1985 - 1986 1987 1988

Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar).
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worldwide view of the subject.
Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Business law
Business organizations
Basic forms:
Sole proprietorship
Corporation
Partnership
(General · Limited · LLP)
Cooperative
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director is an officer (that is, someone who works for the company) charged with the conduct and management of its affairs. A director may be an inside director (a director who is also an officer or promoter or both) or an outside, or independent, director.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
1983 1984 1985 - 1986 - 1987 1988 1989

Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
1986 1987 1988 - 1989 - 1990 1991 1992

Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX
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1990 1991 1992 - 1993 - 1994 1995 1996

Year 1993 (MCMXCIII
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20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s
2002 2003 2004 - 2005 - 2006 2007 2008

2005 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
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blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
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An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique address that certain electronic devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard (IP)—in simpler terms, a computer address.
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