Carl Icahn has launched another assault in his battle to shake up struggling Motorola Inc. [MOT]. The billionaire financier on Monday sued the company to release documents relating to strategic decisions regarding its mobile division.

"Over the past 12 months the statements and predictions of Motorola's management and the Board about Mobile Devices business have too often proven to be wrong," Icahn said in a press release. "We want to ascertain what the Board could have done in the exercise of its fiduciary duty to assure Motorola stockholders that Motorola's statements and predictions were not incorrect."

Icahn also appears to be barking up a new tree, albeit one that's pretty common for activist shareholders. The lawsuit demands information surrounding the use of company aircraft by senior management, the board and their families.

Icahn released a letter sent to Motorola shareholders, urging them to elect his four-person slate of nominees to the company's board. The lengthy missive criticizes the current board's "insular ways and flawed judgement," especially as it relates to Motorola's mobile devices unit, which Icahn has recommended be spun off.

Icahn narrowly lost a bid for a board seat at the company last May, but in the past 18 months (as he duly points out in his letter) Motorola's market value has tumbled by $37 billion.

"Last year I argued that Motorola needed true Stockholder representation on the Board; unfortunately, we lost that battle in a close election," Icahn wrote. "Motorola's Board and management made enough empty promises to convince Stockholders to give them another chance to get it right. They didn't."

Maybe the past year of Motorola's missteps will be enough to hand Icahn a victory this time around. - Olaf de Senerpont Domis

See March 24 press release from Carl Icahn via BusinessWire
See March 6 post from Tech Confidential
See May 2007 post from Tech Confidential