Delaware Business Litigation Report

Delaware Superior Court Creates Commercial Litigation Division

Delaware's Superior Court has joined the ranks of courts in other states by creating a "business court" for commercial disputes between companies. The new "court" is technically a division within the existing Delaware Superior Court and has major advantages for resolving business disputes. Among those are:

1. Three very experienced judges have been assigned to cases filed in the new divisions and will stay with those cases until they are completed.

2. Each case will be subject to a tight case management order designed to control litigation expenses and keep the litigation moving to completion.

3. Discovery of electronically stored data will be subject to special "e-discovery' orders that will limit expense and avoid disputes.

4. Protocols are to be adopted for each case to control expert witness discovery and the recovery of inadvertently produced privileged information.

The creation of this new division followed an extensive review of business courts through out the United States by a Special Committee and adopts the best procedures of those other courts. The Delaware Superior Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery have been consistently voted the best courts for business disputes in the United States.  For more details, see the Administrative Directive establishing the new division and the Special Committee's report.

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