Paul A. Fioravanti, Jr.
How Judge Fioravanti decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He reads the plain, structural language of a contract closely and will hold a party to a genuine distinction the contract itself draws -- for example, between an 'amendment' that revives and modifies an existing agreement and a 'new agreement' -- even where the practical difference to the parties' bottom line is significant.
“In name and by nature, the December Agreement is an amendment, not a new agreement.”
In earnout and post-closing purchase-price disputes, he will resolve genuine textual ambiguity using extrinsic evidence of what the parties actually intended, rather than picking whichever reading is merely 'more natural.'
“When faced with two reasonable interpretations of a contract, the court does not simply end the inquiry by deciding which of two reasonable interpretations is 'more' reasonable.”
On motions to dismiss, he credits well-pleaded facts tied to the company's own contemporaneous documents and rejects theories built on generalized public reporting or speculation about what 'must' have happened, even where the underlying suspicion (e.g., that a CEO feared for her job) is plausible in the abstract.
“The news article cannot substitute for well-pleaded allegations.”
Procedural preferences
He enforces Delaware's assignment-for-the-benefit-of-creditors (ABC) statute's inventory, appraisal, and bond deadlines as mandatory, not aspirational, and will dismiss a proceeding or remove an assignee for cause rather than excuse late filings or unauthorized appraiser retentions, even years into a case.
“The Delaware ABC statute is not complicated. It has few mandates, but they must be followed.”
He treats arbitration as private but not automatically confidential -- a stipulated protective order from the arbitration does not bind the court once a party asks the court to rule on the dispute, and continued sealing requires the same particularized showing of harm as any other confidential-treatment motion under Rule 5.1.
“Open litigation is the default in the Court of Chancery. Confidentiality is the exception, and not the rule.”
He is a stickler for ripeness and jurisdictional limits, declining to resolve disputes that depend on contingencies that may never occur, since doing so would produce an impermissible advisory opinion.
“These claims are 'an invitation for a court to render an advisory opinion based on a hypothetical case.'”
Under the narrow standard for vacating an arbitration award, he defers to an arbitration panel's construction of the parties' contract so long as the panel actually applied the governing legal standard, even if the panel's application of law to particular facts could be debated.
“'[A]s long as the arbitrator is even arguably construing or applying the contract and acting within the scope of his authority, that a court is convinced that he committed serious error does not suffice to overturn his decision.'”
Cautions
He penalizes litigation misconduct directly through fee-shifting -- filing an unauthorized, over-length merits brief disguised as a fee-shifting opposition, or forcing an opposing party to respond to abandoned arguments, can shift the receiver's or opposing counsel's fees onto the offending party.
“The submission of unauthorized merits arguments -- to which Miller's counsel had to respond -- constitutes glaringly egregious conduct.”
A plaintiff who delays pursuing an offered expedited trial date for many months, and who fails to act on its own remedy (e.g., not submitting nominations for the very election the plaintiff claims a right to participate in), risks having the claim become moot rather than preserved.
“Hammann's delay in seeking expedited proceedings [and] the court's ability to grant relief after a prompt trial following the annual meeting.”
A plaintiff who overreaches in a damages or trade-secret claim -- alleging thousands of misappropriated documents but proving only a handful -- will be held to what was actually proved, and a party's speculative worst-case bonding or damages request unsupported by evidence will be rejected in favor of a modest, evidence-based figure.
“PDVH asks this court to join it in speculating about what may have been, building its theory largely on illogical assumptions. To accept that invitation would be improper.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's motion to dismiss Count I of the Complaint is therefore denied.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Respondents' Motion to Dismiss the Complaint is granted.”
“the Counterclaim Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Counterclaims is granted as to Counts I, IV, and V, and granted in part and denied in part as to Count II.”
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is denied without prejudice.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is granted with respect to the claims against Tauscher. Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is granted in part and denied in part with respect to the claims against Roche.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the DRBA's Motion to Compel Arbitration and to Dismiss is GRANTED.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss Count I is GRANTED; the motion to dismiss Count II is DENIED. Defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of standing and motion to strike are DENIED.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss Count II is GRANTED for failure to state a claim. The remaining claims are dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, subject to Plaintiffs' right to elect under 10 Del. C. Section 1902 to have those claims transferred to the Superior Court of Delaware.”
“the Receiver's Motion to Approve Plan of Distribution and Dissolution is granted, all of Tabak's objections are denied, and Miller's Motion for Fee Shifting is granted in part.”
“The fair value of Jackson stock on the valuation date was $11,464.57 per share. ... Ramcell is awarded $1,781,948.74. Ramcell is awarded its costs and interest pursuant to the appraisal statute.”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is granted, and Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment is denied.”
“Plaintiff's motion to dismiss Wood's counterclaims is granted in its entirety.”
“Emergent has not satisfied its burden to support continued confidential treatment of the Petition or the Exhibits. Accordingly, the Motion for continued confidential treatment is DENIED.”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss Count I for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) is hereby GRANTED, with prejudice.”
Put Judge Fioravanti's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Fioravanti actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Fioravanti's own signed orders and cites them.