Document: Whittington v. Dragon Group, L.L.C., et al., No. 392, 2009 (Del. Dec. 18, 2009)

The appellant appealed the Court of Chancery’s holding that his action to enforce rights as an alleged number of Dragon Group, L.L.C. was barred by the doctrine of laches, applying by analogy a three-year statute of limitations found in 10 Del. C. § 8106.  The Delaware Supreme Court determined that the applicable analogous statute of limitations was twenty years and remanded the matter for further consideration.  The Supreme Court found that the Agreement in Principle at issue, which reflected a global settlement of earlier actions and disputes among the parties, was a “specialty contract” as it was a contract under seal.  The word “seal” appeared next to the signature lines of the parties to the contract.  Therefore, under 10 Del. C. § 8106, the analogous statute of limitations was twenty years.