Amtower

This action arises out of the merger of defendant Photon Dynamics, Inc. (Photon), with CR Technology, Inc. (CRT). Plaintiff Richard Amtower, formerly the president of CRT, alleged, among other things, that certain officers and directors of Photon violated section 11 of the federal Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. § 77k(a); hereafter section 11), breached their fiduciary duty, and misrepresented and concealed certain facts about the transferability of the stock Amtower acquired in connection with the merger. At the commencement of trial, the trial court granted an in limine motion to exclude all evidence pertaining to the section 11 claim on the ground that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations. The jury rejected plaintiff’s remaining causes of action and plaintiff has appealed from the judgment.

Plaintiff maintains that the trial court’s use of an in limine motion to adjudicate his section 11 claim deprived him of the right to a jury trial on the statute of limitations issue. Plaintiff’s argument highlights a procedure that has become increasingly common among litigants in our trial courts, which is the use of in limine motions as substitutes for summary…