Background: In early 2019, private equity firm Stellex acquired Paragon Metals LLC — an automotive bearing-bracket manufacturer — from founder and CEO Michael Smith for $100 million. During the pre-closing period, two of Paragon's largest customers, ZF Transmissions and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, notified Smith that they would substantially reduce or eliminate purchase orders. Smith concealed these…
Held: The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed on three points and reversed and remanded on the justifiable-reliance question. First, the court reaffirmed that the evidentiary standard for common law fraud in Delaware is preponderance of the evidence, rejecting Smith's argument that fraud's "moral stigma" or reliance on circumstantial evidence demands a clear-and-convincing standard. The court noted that Superior Court Civil Rule 9(b)'s…
Background: On 3 June 2026, the Knesset held elections to choose the next State Comptroller. Two candidates competed: attorney Michael Ravilo and retired Judge Yosef Elron. In the first round of voting, Judge Elron received 60 votes and Ravilo received 57 votes. Since neither candidate secured the required majority of the 120 Knesset members, a second…
Held: The Supreme Court held, by unanimous decision, that ballot secrecy in Comptroller elections is not an individual right that MKs may waive, but rather a mandatory structural requirement that applies to the election as a whole. The court reasoned that the statutory language—which mandates that the Comptroller "shall be elected by the Knesset by secret ballot"—speaks to the ballot itself,…
Background: On September 30, 2013, Bryan Edward Menge was injured in a rear-end chain-reaction collision in Warwick, Rhode Island while driving a vehicle belonging to Barry Johnson. The at-fault driver, Rene Mathieu Jr., was insured by GEICO. Menge claimed chronic back, pelvic, and abdominal injuries, alleging over $75,000 in medical bills and $250,000 in lost income.…
Held: The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed summary judgment for MSAA, holding that the plain language of Menge's 2013 business-owner's policy expressly excluded bodily injury or property damage "arising out of the ownership, maintenance, use or entrustment to others of any . . . 'auto.'" Because Menge's personal injury claim stemming from an automobile accident fell squarely within that exclusion, there was…
Background: Jacqueline Harris died from an acute pulmonary embolism approximately 30 days after undergoing a total knee replacement performed by Dr. Jack Lennox at Beaumont Hospital in May 2019. Her estate alleged that Lennox committed malpractice by prescribing only aspirin rather than a prescription-strength anticoagulant. The complaint was filed in April 2021, supported by an affidavit…
Held: In a unanimous opinion by Justice Zahra, the Court held that the proper standard for evaluating a motion to amend a witness list is the "good cause" standard stated in MCR 2.401(I)(2)—not the eight-factor Dean test. The Dean factors were developed to guide courts imposing discovery sanctions that result in dismissal; they focus on party misconduct and non-compliance with discovery…
Background: Dr Manish Tripathi, a locum GP, performed an examination of a patient on 24 August 2023 that the Medical Practitioners' Tribunal Service (MPTS) found was not clinically indicated, sexually motivated, and amounted to sexual harassment. During the consultation—conducted in a darkened room with the door locked and the patient's seven-year-old child present—Dr Tripathi lifted the…
Held: The High Court, delivered by Jonathan Richards (sitting as Deputy Judge), allowed the GMC's appeal on all four grounds and found serious procedural irregularities in the Tribunal's sanctions reasoning. First, the Tribunal applied an outdated version of the MPTS Sanctions Guidance, failing to properly apply the current test that conduct must be assessed for whether it is "difficult to remediate"—a…
Background: U Can Recycle Pty Ltd and Container Exchange (Qld) Limited entered two container collection agreements (CCAs) to operate refund points under Queensland's beverage container refund scheme governed by the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (Qld). Container Exchange administers the scheme and has governance responsibilities over participating operators.
Held: Doyle JA granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Container Exchange from giving effect to the termination notice. The court applied the standard two-part test for interlocutory relief: (1) whether the applicant established a prima facie case of success, and (2) whether the balance of convenience favoured maintaining the status quo.
Background: Pat O'Donnell and Company operates a major heavy construction equipment business on lands in Chapelizod, Dublin 20, adjacent to the Uniphar site. The company employs 100 staff and operates 24 hours daily, generating noise and activity from equipment deliveries and testing. In 2022, Dublin City Council proposed material alteration MA D-0004 to its Draft Development…
Held: The Supreme Court allowed Dublin City Council's appeal and reversed the High Court's quashing order. The Court held that the listing requirement serves an administrative rather than a planning function—to record that submissions were received—and does not require elected members to consider submissions based on the identity of the submitter. Naming the planning agent who lodged the submission substantially complied…
Background: James Aren Duckett is a death-row inmate with multiple post-conviction proceedings pending before the Florida Supreme Court, including a post-warrant successive Rule 3.851 appeal (SC2026-0449) and a petition for writ of habeas corpus (SC2026-0450). Those matters were still pending when Duckett filed a corrected notice of appeal on June 25, 2026, challenging a circuit court…
Held: The Florida Supreme Court, in a six-justice majority, dismissed Duckett's appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The majority held that neither section 925.11, Florida Statutes, nor Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.853 contemplates an evidentiary hearing after DNA test results have been provided to the court, the defendant, and the prosecuting authority. Because no such hearing is authorized under the governing…
Background: Frederick County, Maryland enacted Ordinance 26-01-001, a County Council measure related to data center development. The Frederick County Data Center Referendum Committee sought to subject the ordinance to a public referendum and obtained certification of its petition from the Frederick County Board of Elections' Election Director.
Held: The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed the circuit court's judgment in full, issuing a per curiam order on June 30, 2026, with a full opinion to follow. The Court upheld all three grounds on which the circuit court relied: that Ordinance 26-01-001 is not a subject matter eligible for referendum under the Frederick County Charter; that the Election Director's certification…
Background: Nancy Ribaudo, a licensed Hawaii attorney (bar number 6076), filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaiʻi seeking to resign from the practice of law in good standing pursuant to Rule 1.10 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaiʻi (RSCH). She also sought permission to retain…
Held: The Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, with Chief Justice Devens, Justices McKenna, Eddins, and Ginoza, and Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge Nakasone sitting by assignment, unanimously granted the petition. The court found that Ribaudo had fully complied with the requirements of RSCH Rule 1.10 and authorized her resignation in good standing.
Background: Gary Biddle (Husband) and Suvi Biddle (Wife) married in March 2011 and separated in November 2019. Before their equitable distribution hearing in Caldwell County, the parties entered an extensive Pretrial Order with schedules that stipulated to the classification, value, and distribution of their assets. Key items included: (1) a South Carolina townhome placed on Schedule…
Held: The Court of Appeals (per Judge Stroud, with Chief Judge Dillon and Judge Tyson each concurring in part and dissenting in part) affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded.