In my view, the most interesting part of the new Disney opinion is the Court's discussion of the duty of good faith (pp. 60-73). Here are some thoughts on that portion of the opinion:

• The Court rejected the plaintiffs' contention that Chancellor Chandler changed the definition of "bad faith" between his 2003 opinion ("consciously and intentionally disregarded their responsibilities") and his 2005 opinion ("intentional dereliction of duty, a conscious disregard for one's responsibilities"). The Court stated, "We perceive no substantive difference" between the two, and that seems right to me.
• The Court clearly embraces the duty of good faith as a distinct duty, separate from care and loyalty. For example, "grossly negligent conduct, without more, does not and cannot constitute a breach of the fiduciary duty to act in good faith." (p. 67)
• The big question, therefore, is whether plaintiffs can find cases where the directors' conduct would constitute a breach of the duty of good faith, but not a breach of the duty of care or the duty of loyalty. The Court observes, "Cases have arisen where corporate directors have no conflicting self-interest in a decision, yet engage in misconduct that is more culpable than simple inattention or failure to be informed of all facts material to the decision." But it offers no citations. In my view, plaintiffs should be looking for one of three fact scenarios: intentional infliction of harm on the corporation, intentional violations of law, and intentional derelictions of duty.
• The Court noticed the language in Section 102(b)(7) that Elizabeth Nowicki has been touting as a new basis for liability: "acts ... not in good faith." The Court looked at that statute and found two categories of "subjective bad faith" (which it also describes as "actual intent to do harm): "intentional misconduct" and "knowing violation of law." These are the first two fact scenarios listed in the prior paragraph. The Court says that "acts ... not in good faith" are encompassed by Chancellor Chandler's definition of bad faith, i.e., intentional derelictions of duty. In short, "acts ... not in good faith" are acts of "bad faith."  

Will the duty of good faith be important in future litigation? I assume that it will be argued frequently, at least in the near future, because bad faith is not capable of exculpation under Section 102(b)(7). Nevertheless, I suspect that the number of fact scenarios in which the duty of good faith will have traction is small, with "intentional violations of law" being the largest potential category. See Enron, et al.

All in all, I think that Justice Jacobs did an excellent job with the opinion. I am surprised that the decision was unanimous, and now I am wondering: what took them so long?

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