Law360 reports that the senate confirmed incoming District of Delaware Judge Gregory B. Williams today. Congratulations, Judge Williams!!
Entries for tag: DED
Today was the Federal Bar Association's annual luncheon, an annual event where the Chief Judges give updates on the status of Delaware's District and Bankruptcy courts.
This year's event was the first in-person meeting since the start of the COVID lockdowns. It was great to see everyone again in person!
Attendance was relatively low. Some speculated that this may be due to expiring FBA memberships. My theory is that there may have been an issue with the invitation e-mail (I never received it myself, and I'm a current FBA member).
In any case, I wanted to post some highlights and interesting facts from the speakers today, as we did for the virtual event last year:
- The …
The District of Delaware announced today that Chief Magistrate Judge Thynge is set to retire in March 31, 2023:
The United States District Court for the District of Delaware announces that Chief Magistrate Judge Mary Pat Thynge has informed the Court of her intention to retire, effective March 31, 2023, ending more than 30 years of exemplary judicial service.
Judge Thynge is the longest serving U.S. Magistrate Judge in the history of the District of Delaware. She began her tenure as a Magistrate Judge of the Court in June of 1992, after 16 years in private practice.
Judge Thynge will be sorely …
According to the Federal Circuit's website on Thursday, Judge Stark has been officially sworn in to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. According to their post, he was sworn in on the Lincoln Bible, held by his wife Beth Stark. Congratulations again to Judge Stark!
As we discussed on Thursday, the Court is still in the process of re-assigning Judge Stark's cases, with the majority so far going to other D. Del. Article III judges. Judge Stark still has a number of cases, including for example C.A. No. 19-01938-LPS, where he issued an order on Monday asking for briefing following a status report from the …
Following the Court's announcement of a transition plan last week, the Court issued an implementing standing order on Wednesday, and today we saw a wave of reassignments from Judge Stark cases—all to Judge Andrews.
A number of cases were re-assigned, including:
- American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, C.A. No. 15-1168 (D. Del.)
- Future Link Systems, LLC v. Amlogic Holdings, Ltd., C.A. No. 21-634 (D. Del.)
- Finjan LLC v. Trustwave Holdings, Inc., C.A. No. 20-371 (D. Del.)
- Celanese International Corporation v. Anhui Jinhe Industrial Co., Ltd., C.A. No. 20-1775 (D. Del.)
In each case, Judge Andrews ordered the parties to produce a status report within …
The Court announced it's plan for Judge Stark's departure today, and it includes some bold moves.
All attorneys who practice in D. Del. should read the announcement in full—it's not that long—but here are some highlights.
Pending Mediations Will Be Canceled
Unlike previous transitions, most district court cases will be impacted, because magistrate judge referrals for mediation and all pending mediations will be canceled except in select instances:
Other than mediations in bankruptcy appeals or unless specifically directed otherwise by the Court, all referrals to Magistrate Judges for alternate dispute resolution will be vacated and all currently scheduled mediations will be canceled.
Thus, mediations in non-judge-Stark cases will be canceled. …
Effective today, the District of Delaware lifted its mask mandate for public areas:
NOW THEREFORE, it is HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Effective immediately, masking in public areas of the Court (lobby, corridors, elevators, restrooms, etc.) is no longer required. People may choose to wear a face mask at their discretion. Prior standing orders of the Court that imposed mask requirements are VACATED to the extent, and only to the extent, such orders imposed mask requirements.
2. Judges retain the discretion to impose mask requirements in their courtrooms as they see fit.
Delaware state courts are likewise ending their mask mandate, starting on Wednesday of this week.
In a message to the bar, Delaware Supreme Court Chief …
Ever since Judge Stark was confirmed to the Federal Circuit, one of the most common questions I've received is: what will happen to his current cases, and when will we know?
There have already been some reassignments to visiting judges, but few clear indications of what may happen in the bulk of Judge Stark's current cases. We got some more hints yesterday in this oral order from Judge Stark:
ORAL ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case will be reassigned to another judge and the pretrial conference (currently scheduled for March 24) and jury trial (currently scheduled for April 6) will be rescheduled by that judge. Accordingly, the current pretrial conference and trial dates are …
It is with heavy heart that I announce that Judge Stark has finally been confirmed to the Federal Circuit. Appointed to our little Court in 2010, Judge Stark's time with us has been all too brief, and he will be dearly missed by all of us who practiced before him and/or shared his love of T. Swift (2/2)
With Judge O'Malley set to retire on March 11, Judge Stark is likely to be sworn in very shortly thereafter. If the past is any guide, we can soon expect Judge Stark's active cases to be transferred to visiting visiting judges or magistrates while the district awaits a new Article III judge.
We here at IP/DE will keep you updated on any Judge Stark happenings at the Federal Circuit, on the theory that he will always carry a piece of Delaware with him, like a traveling embassy for the first state.
Following Judge Stark's nomination to the Federal Circuit and subsequent smooth appearance before the Judiciary Committee, we've all begun to wonder when he would begin unloading his pending cases.
Well wonder no more!
On Tuesday, Judge Stark issued the following oral order in 360Heros, Inc. v. GoPro, Inc., C.A. No. 17-1302-LPS, D.I. 260 (D. Del. Jan. 18, 2022):
Having reviewed the parties' letter relating to the jury trial currently scheduled to begin on March 7 . . . IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the trial is CONTINUED to a date to be determined. The parties are advised that in advance of trial, likely sometime in February, …
