SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC

4 Citing cases

  1. Icahn Partners LP v. deSouza

    C. A. 2023-1045-PAF (Del. Ch. Jan. 16, 2024)

    Directors may also be entitled to access legal advice provided to the board before their tenure if they have a present need for that information to perform their fiduciary duties. See Intrieri v. Avatex Corp., 1998 WL 326608, at *2 (Del. Ch. June 12, 1998) (declining to recognize a broad rule allowing a corporation to withhold privileged documents created before an individual becomes a director, because it "would have the potential to hinder a director's ability to perform his fiduciary duties"); cf. SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC, 2021 WL 5226487, at *5 (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021) (denying access to privileged information that predated the plaintiffs' tenure on the board where they sought the information in furtherance of personal litigation).

  2. Bruckel v. Tauc Holdings, LLC

    C. A. 2021-0579-MTZ (Del. Ch. Jul. 17, 2023)

    "[P]rivileged information can be withheld from a director 'once sufficient adversity exists between the director and the corporation such that the director could no longer have a reasonable expectation that he was a client of the board's counsel.'"SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC, 2021 WL 5226487, at *2 (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021) (quoting Moore Bus. Forms, Inc. v. Cordant Hldgs. Corp., 1996 WL 307444, at *4 (Del. Ch. June 4, 1996)). Id. at *3 (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021) (quoting Moore, 1996 WL 307444, at *4)

  3. Hyde Park Venture Partners Fund III v. FairXchange, LLC

    292 A.3d 178 (Del. Ch. 2023)   Cited 6 times   2 Legal Analyses
    Describing agency principles applied in the corporate context as "metaphorical, not doctrinal"

    The Company next fixates on a case that it interprets as applying Section 220(d) -style considerations to a discovery dispute. In SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC , 2021 WL 5226487 (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021), this court issued a letter ruling that reached a logical result on the facts presented. The decision did not purport to change the law or depart from the joint client approach.

  4. In re Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc.

    C. A. 2022-0127-LWW (Del. Ch. May. 5, 2022)   Cited 1 times   1 Legal Analyses

    Moore Bus. Forms., 1996 WL 307444, at *5. Henshaw v. Am. Cement Corp., 252 A.2d 125, 128 (Del. Ch. 1969); see SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC, 2021 WL 5226487, at *3 (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021). There are three recognized limitations on a director's right to access: