Elon Musk-Twitter dispute: Judge orders October trial for lawsuit
Tuesday’s hearing featured sharply worded arguments from both sides — including Twitter’s lawyer at one point referring to Musk as a “committed enemy” — setting the stage for what is almost certain to be a contentious legal battle.
Twitter’s lead counsel William Savitt came out swinging against Musk at the start of the hearing as he argued in favor of a speedy trial. Savitt said the continued uncertainty hanging over the company from the outstanding deal and litigation “inflicts harm on Twitter everyday, every hour and every day.” He also pointed to what he described as Musk’s continued disparagement of Twitter, including on its own platform.
“Musk has been and remains contractually obligated to use his best efforts to close this deal,” Savitt said. “What he’s doing is the exact opposite; it’s sabotage.”
Musk lawyer Andrew Rossman pushed back saying that Musk “doesn’t have an incentive to keep this hanging for a long time,” noting that the billionaire remains one of Twitter’s largest shareholders. He also noted that Twitter did not sue Musk over his alleged breaches of the deal until after he moved to terminate the deal, suggesting that the company’s wait invalidated its desire for expedition. (The judge in her comments said Twitter’s timing was not “unreasonable.”)
Musk’s team proposed that the dispute should go to trial early next year. “We’re not opposing expedition full stop, we’re not asking for years here,” Rossman said. “What we’re offering instead, Your Honor, is an incredibly rapid and sensible schedule.”
Following each side’s argument, the judge overseeing the case, Delaware Court of Chancery chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, said Musk’s side “underestimate the ability of this court … to quickly process complex litigation.”
“The reality is that delay threatens irreparable harm [to Twitter] … the longer the delay, the greater the risk,” McCormick said in announcing the scheduling plan. She added that while few cases warrant a trial longer than five days, she would entertain a request from either side to extend the trial if necessary.
Even with this early scheduling dispute, the stakes were high for Twitter. The company was already struggling to grow its user base and advertising business before Musk’s involvement, and now it and many other tech companies are pulling back on costs amid rampant inflation and fears of a recession. Twitter needs a swift resolution to the battle with Musk in order to limit the uncertainty for its shareholders, employees and customers, and any fallout for its business that could be exacerbated by costly, prolonged litigation.
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