Stay of Discovery Denied Despite Motion to Dismiss
In Bonham v. HBH Holdings, Inc., download pdf file, Vice Chancellor Parsons addresses a Motion to Stay Discovery pending the resolution of a Motion to Dismiss. The court observed that absent special circumstances, discovery is often stayed pending determination of a Motion to Dismiss a Complaint. The court referred to former Chancellor Allen's decision in In Re McCrory , for a list of special circumstances that would justify the denial of a stay of discovery despite a pending Motion to Dismiss. The court here found that in light of related similar litigation pending in federal court, a stay of discovery on the merits should be denied because, as the court acknowledged, discovery "should not be delayed if discovery is inevitable, either in this forum or in another, and that the parties could conduct virtually the same discovery in another forum." The court expected the parties to agree that discovery provided in one case can be used in the other case subject to any appropriate protective orders, and to avoid duplicative discovery.
