Delaware Business Litigation Report

Court Of Chancery Dismisses Improperly Notarized Complaint

Bessenyei v. Vermillion, Inc., C.A. 7572-VCN (November 16, 2012)

This is a troubling decision.  One plaintiff, through the efforts of the other plaintiff who is a lawyer, used a false verification when the complaint was filed. The Court of Chancery requires all complaints be verified.  As a result, the Court dismissed the complaint under the rule of Parfi where the dismissal is on the merits.

Seems right so what is troubling?  Delaware lawyers typically believe their clients when they are sent a verification that the client did what the verification says, appeared before a notary to sign it. This is an odd case because there was some indication that was not being done. Still, how far should we  go?  The short answer is that we need to ask the client: "Did you get this signed in front of a notary like it says"?

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