Stone & Paper Investors, LLC v. Blanch

• Court: Court of Chancery of Delaware
• Decided: October 30, 2020
• Docket: C.A. No. 2018-0394-PAF
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE PAUL A. FIORAVANTI, JR. LEONARD L. WILLIAMS JUSTICE CENTER VICE CHANCELLOR 500 N. KING STREET, SUITE 11400 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 19801-3734

October 30, 2020

Richard I. G. Jones, Jr. Esquire Mr. Brian Skinner, pro se Berger Harris LLP 111 Veronica Lane 1105 N. Market Street, Suite 1100 Bear, DE 19701 Wilmington, DE 19801 skinner.brian@gmail.com

Catherine Damavandi, Esquire Skinner Capital, LLC Nurick Law Group, LLC c/o Mr. Brian Skinner 501 Silverside Road, Suite 95 56 Leonard Street Wilmington, DE 19809 Apartment 38 BE New York, NY 10013 skinner.brian@gmail.com

Re: Stone & Paper Investors, LLC v. Blanch et al., C.A. No. 2018-0394-PAF

Dear Counsel and Mr. Skinner:

The Court has reviewed Mr. Skinner’s October 26, 2020 letter, seeking

permission to file a motion for partial summary judgment. Dkt. 280. The basis for

the motion is that plaintiff Stone & Paper Investors, LLC (“Plaintiff”) has admitted

that it approved payments and loans made to Skinner Capital, LLC and that Albert

Carter, a manager of Plaintiff, “had complete control of the American Express card

in which charges are at issue.” Id. Mr. Skinner’s letter does not include any Stone & Paper Investors, LLC v. Blanch et al. C.A. No. 2018-0394-PAF October 30, 2020 Page 2 of 3

exhibits or otherwise provide any citation to the discovery record in support of his

request for leave to file a motion for partial summary judgment.

“There is no ‘right’ to a summary judgment.” Telxon Corp. v. Meyerson,

802 A.2d 257, 262 (Del. 2002). Accordingly, “the court may, in its discretion,

deny summary judgment if it decides upon a preliminary examination of the facts

presented that it is desirable to inquire into and develop the facts more thoroughly

at trial in order to clarify the law or its application.” In re El Paso Pipeline P’rs,

L.P. Deriv. Litig., 2014 WL 2768782, at *9 (Del. Ch. June 12, 2014) (citations

omitted); see also The Williams Cos. v. Energy Transfer LP, 2020 WL 3581095, at

*11 (Del. Ch. July 2, 2020) (“[T]he court in its discretion may determine that a

trial record is necessary in the interests of justice.”).

This case is scheduled for trial in approximately six weeks, and the parties

have not completed depositions. Having recently decided a motion to dismiss the

Blanch Defendants’ counterclaims and third-party claims (Dkt. 158), presided over

numerous discovery disputes (see, e.g., Dkt. 127, 149, 207, 220, 248, 256, 270),

and a recent motion to amend (Dkt. 197), the Court is familiar with the claims and

issues in this case. Given the close proximity to trial, and that any motion for

partial summary judgment will not obviate the need for trial, the Court concludes

that it is desirable to consider the claims at issue on a full factual record developed Stone & Paper Investors, LLC v. Blanch et al. C.A. No. 2018-0394-PAF October 30, 2020 Page 3 of 3

at trial. Accordingly, Mr. Skinner’s request to file a motion for partial summary

judgment is denied.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Paul A. Fioravanti, Jr.

Vice Chancellor

PAF/dtw