Defendants are often (but not always) the ones who just happen to want to move a trial back.AI-Generated
Trial dates in Delaware generally tend to stick, with certain exceptions (e.g., parties moving to extend the schedule, particularly the dispositive motion deadlines).
We saw an example of that this week in International Business Machines Corporation v. Zynga, Inc., C.A. No. 22-590-GWB (D. Del.). There, the defendant tried to delay trial based on schedule issues, an O2 Micro issue, and to permit expert report supplementation based on potential new evidence. The Court didn't go for it:
ORAL ORDER: The Court has reviewed the parties' letters regarding the trial schedule (D.I. 445, 449, 450). Zynga's request to alter the …
"Do we want to bring this discovery dispute, or do we want to cross their corporate rep at trial? Choices, choices..."Vladislav Babienko, Unsplash
We've written before about how the Court sometimes sets up escalating obstacles for parties who are insensitive to the Court's time and bring too many discovery disputes. In that case, the Court gave the parties "homework" (writing letters to the Court) after their seventh discovery dispute.
In Apple Inc. v. Masimo Corporation, C.A. No. 22-1377-MN-JLH (D. Del.), the Court referred all pre-trial matters up until dispositive motions to Magistrate Judge Hall.
Judge Hall took action after the parties brought what looks like seven discovery disputes. The docket shows the Court's escalating response to the parties disputes:
June 1 - First teleconference
June 16 - Second teleconference
July 7 - First in-person hearing
July 14 - Second in-person hearing
August 3 - Third in-person hearing
September 1 - Fourth in-person hearing; Court warns that future disputes will be charged to trial time
September 14 - Fifth in-person hearing; Court charges the parties' trial time
Guessing from the docket, it looks like the parties brought a number of rapid-fire discovery disputes starting on June 1. For the third dispute in about a month, the Court increased the friction on the parties by forcing them to come to Delaware to argue the disputes.
That doesn't seem to have slowed them down at all. After three in-person disputes ...
This blog is for general informational purposes. It is not an offer to perform legal services, and should not be considered a substitute for legal advice. Nothing in this blog should be construed as forming an attorney-client relationship. If you have legal questions, please consult counsel in your jurisdiction.
