Collateral Estoppel Bars Pending Claims
In Troy Corp. v. Schoon, (Del. Ch., July 18, 2008), read opinion here, the Chancery Court addressed the issue of collateral estoppel and found that certain claims were barred due to prior litigation in which the plaintiffs had the opportunity to raise the same claims that are now being pursued in this current matter. The Court was not persuaded by the argument that the prior proceeding involved was a "summary proceeding", but rather reasoned that it was a strategy of the plaintiff not to pursue the particular discovery and the specific issues that it had the ability to prosecute in the prior action- which has now resulted in those claims being barred from the litigation in the instant case.
The five (5) prior opinions in this case that were summarized on this blog are available here.
