A centuries-old court in Delaware will decide if Elon Musk has to buy Twitter

The battle over Twitter’s future is transferring right into a courtroom — not in California, the place it’s headquartered, however in Delaware, the place the social media firm was integrated in 2007.

On Tuesday, Twitter sued billionaire Elon Musk within the Delaware Court docket of Chancery, a hub of high-profile company litigation that’s greater than two centuries previous, descended from the the Excessive Court docket of Chancery in Nice Britain.

In a 62-page lawsuit, the corporate requested the courtroom to order the world’s richest man to finish a $44 billion takeover deal he has been making an attempt to again out of.

Musk isn’t any stranger to the Delaware Court docket of Chancery. Final yr, the Tesla CEO prevailed in a go well with introduced by the corporate’s shareholders. The courtroom additionally has determined instances involving the likes of Fb, Goldman Sachs, and McDonald’s.

What’s the Delaware Court docket of Chancery?

Many public corporations, together with roughly two-thirds of the Fortune 500, are integrated in Delaware, and whereas the state’s corporate-friendly tax system is a giant motive why, so is its Court docket of Chancery, which has jurisdiction over company legislation.

Established in 1792, the courtroom says it offers with “company issues, trusts, estates, and different fiduciary issues, disputes involving the acquisition and sale of land, questions of title to actual property, and business and contractual issues typically.”

How is it totally different from different courts?

The Delaware Court docket of Chancery is extra specialised than most courts within the U.S. Whereas different courts contemplate instances through which one social gathering is in search of financial damages from one other, the Court docket of Chancery doesn’t.

As a substitute, it’s a “courtroom of fairness.” What does that imply, precisely? David Margules, a Wilmington-based associate with the legislation agency Ballard Spahr, explains:

“You might be asking the courtroom to enter an order that requires somebody to do one thing, or prohibits somebody from doing one thing.”

Which is what Twitter is doing on this case.

In its lawsuit, it’s asking the Delaware Court docket of Chancery to order the defendants — Musk and two companies he established to facilitate his takeover deal — to shut the deal.

Consultants say corporations could favor courts of fairness as a result of they know the judges perceive the ins and outs of company legislation. They grow to be intimately aware of case legislation, they usually can deal with instances in a complicated, environment friendly method. In different courts, judges are usually pulled in many alternative instructions.

Who sits on the courtroom?

There are seven judges: one chancellor and 6 vice chancellors. Picked by the governor, they are usually longtime members of the Delaware State Bar Affiliation who’ve spent their careers doing company litigation.

“The judges are typically skilled practitioners who reduce their bones in non-public follow doing complicated instances, they usually work terribly laborious,” Margules says.

Notably, within the Delaware Court docket of Chancery, there aren’t any jury trials. The judges maintain huge energy.

How is that this prone to play out?

Below Delaware legislation, Musk has 20 days to reply to the lawsuit, however to Twitter, time is of the essence. In a separate submitting, it requested for an expedited timetable, saying any delay would hurt the corporate and its shareholders.

Twitter desires Musk’s attorneys to reply to the lawsuit by July 18, and the corporate proposed a four-day trial with a Sept. 19 begin date.

“There’s going to be a really tight timeframe, and the choose will be predisposed to set a listening to on the deserves very, in a short time,” says Margules.

Of their preliminary settlement, Musk and Twitter agreed to the sale by Oct. 24.

The Delaware Court docket of Chancery has a popularity for being environment friendly. Judges typically dispense with opening statements, preferring as an alternative to go straight to the proof.

At challenge is Twitter’s request that the courtroom compel Musk to finish the agreed-upon deal. If a choose decides not to try this, it is seemingly she or he would weigh in on whether or not Musk ought to pay a $1 billion breakup payment agreed upon within the deal.

Margules says the chancellor or vice chancellor overseeing the case will need to ensure there’s ample time for an enchantment to the Delaware Supreme Court docket, if essential.

What if Elon Musk refuses to adjust to a courtroom order?

The Delaware Court docket of Chancery can maintain somebody in contempt of courtroom, and it has the facility to ship somebody to jail, consultants say.

However Michael Hanrahan, a associate with the legislation agency Prickett, Jones & Elliott, who has been a member of the Delaware Bar for greater than 40 years, suggests there’s one other manner the courtroom may maintain Musk to account if he fails to adjust to a call that does not go his manner.

“Elon Musk owns quite a lot of inventory in Delaware companies, which can be topic to seizure in Delaware,” he says, noting Tesla and SpaceX are each integrated within the state. “So, there could also be technique of compelling him.”

NPR’s Bobby Allyn contributed to this report.

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