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Airgas' Conflict Claims Against Cravath Firm to Proceed to Trial

By Francis G.X. Pileggi

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. v. Airgas, Inc.,  is the caption of a case pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery regarding a hotly contested effort by Air Products to acquire Airgas.  A trial in Delaware is scheduled to take place on October 4. The Court of Chancery previously denied a motion to disqualify the Cravath firm from representing Air Products--but did not decide the issue of whether there was a breach of any rules of professional conduct. That is, the motion to disqualify Cravath was denied regardless of whether there may have been a violation of Rule 1.7 or other rules of professional conduct relating to conflicts of interest. The several pre-trial decisions thus far by the Court of Chancery in this pending litigation have been highlighted on this blog here.

However, in Airgas, Inc. v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP,  C.A. No. 10-612,  yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by Cravath, and allowed to proceed to trial the claims of Airgas that Cravath allegedly breached fiduciary duties owed to Cravath by representing Airgas and Air Products at the same time, just prior to Airgas spurning the advances of Air Products; and Airgas further alleged that Cravath's conflicted representation caused injuries to Airgas. That decision is available here.

Full post as published by Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog on August 04, 2010 (boomark / email).