How should one interpret a Delaware judge&#39;s instructions?
<p>This is regarding a corporate matter in Delaware (the seat of a majority of U.S. corporations).</p>

<p>A Delaware judge ordered a corporation to post a relevant notice "for two weeks in a widely circulated daily newspaper in Delaware." Questions:</p>

<p>1) Does "two weeks" mean 10 business days or 14 calendar days?</p>

<p>2) The two largest Delaware daily newspapers are the News Journal out of Wilmington, and the Delaware State News out of Dover. Wilmington is the larger and more business oriented city, but is at the northern end of the state, while Dover is in the middle of the state, covers a larger area, and is the state capital. The difference is like the difference between the New York Times and the Washington Post.</p>

<p>Is either newspaper "better" (more acceptable) than the other, or are they comparably acceptable</p>

<p>A week is 7 days, so 2 weeks is 14 days. There is no general rule that weekends and holidays do not count as days, and "business day" is only a loosely-defined popular term (e.g. is a business is closed on Monday, that would not be a business day for that business). There is no significance difference between the NYT and the Post from the perspective of notice-publication, so likewise none between State News and News Journal, but HOY en Delaware or The Delaware Wave would not satisfy the requirements of the order (they are not daily). </p>

<p>In most states there is a set of official criteria for a newspaper to be eligible for placement of legal advertisements. There is usually a minimum frequency of issue, and a minimum circulation. Or there may be a list of officially acceptable papers, revised from time to time. Any paper meeting those official criteria is probably OK.</p>

<p>In a contract, there is often a very specific definition of what counts as a business day, but unless some Delaware statute has such a definition, probably this would mean two calendar weeks. </p>

delaware notice