June Update on Upcoming D. Del. Jury Trials

Andrew E. Russell, June 14, 2021

Courts / DED

COVID-19 Trial Calendar

Why go to the beach when you can have a Delaware jury trial instead! Elizeu Dias, Unsplash

I was planning to lay off of these kinds of posts a bit since the Court has mostly resumed jury trials, but I've heard that people miss them already (and they also tend to be our most-viewed posts). So here is another update!

Since our last update, the District of Delaware has held two jury trials, including a (partial) patent jury trial:

5/20/2021: In Re Chanbond, LLC Patent Litigation, C.A. 15-842-RGA (D. Del.): This patent action ultimately settled after the first three days of the jury trial.
6/7/2021: Clark v. Coupe, C.A. No. 17-66-RGA (D. Del.): This prisoner civil rights trial went for three days and ended in a complete verdict for the defendants after a three-day jury trial.

All but two remaining June jury trials have settled or moved—including one that moved due to COVID-19:

6/10/2021: Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals L.P. v. Powder Springs Logistics, LLC, C.A. No. 17-1390-LPS (D. Del.): Settled.
6/21/2021: First Wheel Management Limited v. Inventist, Inc., C.A. No. 17-1059-MN (D. Del.): This contract trial before Judge Noreika was delayed at the request of the plaintiff (a request opposed by the defendants) because "key fact witnesses" were unable to gain entry into the United States after having been to the United Kingdom, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. According to plaintiff:

Under the Presidential Proclamation dated January 25, 2021, non-citizens of the United States cannot enter into the country if they have been in the United Kingdom. . . . [The witness] made considerable effort to obtain an exemption to the travel restrictions by requesting expedited consideration by the U.S. visa service and outreach to the U.S Ambassador to the U.K., to no avail.

In response to the request, Judge Noreika pushed the trial back to 11/29/2021.

6/28/2021: USA v. Boyce, C.A. No. 20-43-CFC (D. Del.): This criminal trial was rescheduled for 7/26/2021.
6/28/2021: GEMAK Trust v. Reckitt Benckiser LLC, C.A. No. 18-1855-RGA (D. Del.): Settled.

Remaining June Jury Trials

Things are set to get busier next week, now that the Court is permitting multiple simultaneous jury trials again:

6/28/2021: CP Printing Limited v. Glitterati Incorporated, C.A. No. 18-1526-SRF (D. Del.): This is a 2-day consent trial before Magistrate Judge Fallon in a contract action. According to the docket last week, this is still set to proceed.
6/30/2021: Eugene Scalia v. DeVilbiss Landscape Architects, Inc., C.A. No. 17-354-MN (D. Del.): This 3-day Fair Labor Standards Act jury trial is scheduled to start mid-week, immediately after the 2-day trial in CP Printing. According to a status report early this month, the parties intend to go forward.

July Jury Trials

Here is what is currently on the calendar for July:

7/6/2021: Szubielski v. Pierce, C.A. No. 15-984-RGA (D. Del.): This 2-3 day prisoner civil rights trial is on track to go forward.
7/6/2021: USA v. Titus, C.A. No. 18-45-RGA (D. Del.): This 3 week jury trial is still set, and the docket is active. It looks like this or Szubielski will have to move, given that they are both before Judge Andrews.
7/7/2021: USA v. Davis, C.A. No. 19-101-LPS (D. Del.): This criminal jury trial is still set to go, although the Court granted leave to file a renewed motion to delay the trial as late as tomorrow (6/15).
7/12/2021: TRUSTID, Inc. v. Next Caller Inc., C.A. No. 18-172-MN (D. Del.): It looks like this 5-day patent jury trial may still be proceeding.
7/12/2021: Boston Scientific Corporation et al v. Micro-Tech Endoscopy USA Inc., C.A. No. 18-1869-SB-CJB (D. Del.): This patent case is scheduled to go to trial before Judge Bibas of the Third Circuit.
7/19/2021: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Imperium IP Holdings (Cayman), Ltd., C.A. No. 15-1059-CFC (D. Del.): This patent-related contract action is technically still scheduled for trial, but the parties filed a stipulation delaying the pretrial conference due to "an anticipated settlement."
7/26/2021: USA v. Boyce, C.A. No. 20-42-CFC (D. Del.): This is another criminal jury trial, which was only recently recheduled, so it seems likely to proceed.