The Delaware Court of Chancery in Sider v. Hertz Global Holdings, C.A. No. 2019-0237-KSJM, Order (Del. Ch. June 17, 2019), recently resolved an issue of first impression for the court: “should a defendant be permitted immediate appellate review of a decision granting entitlement to advancement, although disputes concerning the reasonableness of advancement fees remain unresolved?” In Sider, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick rejected the request for interlocutory review, reasoning that the defendant could not establish one of the elements of the interlocutory appeal standard: “that there is no just reason for denying the appeal.”

To advance the argument that there is no “just reason” for denying an appeal, the defendant in Sider contended that advancement rights encompass significant timing issues, such as the right to payments in advance of the final proceedings that gave rise to the claims. The defendant further argued that it would suffer irreparable harm if it paid what it believed to be unwarranted advancement.