Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Litigation Blogs -> Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog

Litigation

: Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog

Court of Chancery Rules on Admissibility of Expert Testimony in eBay v. Craigslist

By Francis G. X. Pileggi, Esq.

eBay Domestic Holdings, Inc. v. Newmark, et al., No. 3705-CC (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2009), read letter decision here. See summaries of multiple prior decisions by the Chancery Court in this case here.

In this short letter ruling, the Court of Chancery ruled on motions in limine regarding the admissibility of evidence to support the "unclean hands" defense and expert testimony. Evidence that related to the equitable defense of unclean hands was allowed to the extent that the actions of eBay's representatives on the board of craigslist may have been inappropriate, and beyond the bounds of fair competition, which might bar their request for equitable relief. The claims of eBay relate to actions taken by craigslist to prevent eBay from exerting influence over the composition of craiglist's board of directors. The Court did not determine whether the Unocal standard or the entire fairness standard applied to the actions of craigslist (spelled without a capital c.)

As for the expert testimony issue, the Court relied on a Delaware Supreme Court decision that gives it more flexibility than the criteria in Daubert  to determine the admissibility of expert testimony. See Bowen v. E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., 906 A.2d 787 (Del. 2006). The Court allowed for eBay to present objections at trial, but preliminarily determined to admit the testimony and give it whatever weight it deserved based on the applicable factors.

Full post as published by Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog on November 10, 2009 (boomark / email).