In Franklin Balance Sheet Investment Fund v. Crowley, (Del. Ch., Oct. 19, 2006), read opinion here , the Chancery Court addressed the following issues in a case involving claims of fiduciary duty breaches, self-dealing and entrenchment:
1) Under Chancery Court Rule 15(aaa), the plaintiff must choose to rest on his complaint or amend it before the Answering Brief is due to a Motion to Dismiss. Here, due to a supplemental brief and apparent additional reasons to dismiss raised at oral argument, the court allowed an amended complaint after the supplemental briefing, but assessed fees of $10,000 due to the additional claims in the amended complaint that went beyond the supplemental arguments. The purpose of the rule was to avoid an endless series of amendments and motions. Based on the contorted procedural posture here, it seems like a Solomonic result.
2 to 4) The court also allowed a motion to intervene under Rule 24, and addressed the issues of laches and mootness.
This weekend, I hope to catch up on other recent cases that I will summarize soon.