Twitter-Musk Case Assigned to Delaware Chief Judge McCormick (1)

Twitter Inc.’s lawsuit to force Elon Musk to follow through on a $44 million purchase of the social media platform will be handled by the chief judge of Delaware Chancery Court.

Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, who already has taken on investor suits over the teetering transaction, was assigned to Twitter’s suit on Wednesday, according to the court docket.

Read More: Twitter Says It Can Beat Musk’s Claims in Four Trial Days

The Twitter suit is bringing world-wide attention to the chancery court, which is known for quickly handling complex merger and acquisition disputes. Delaware is the corporate home to more than 60% of Fortune 500 companies and even attracts cases from outside the US.

McCormick, a former legal-aid lawyer, was appointed to the bench in 2021 by Delaware Governor John Carney, a Democrat. Judicial candidates in the state are screened by a non-partisan board of practicing lawyers.

She already has presided over some big cases, including one brought Venezuela’s current leader challenging the opposition’s appointments to the board of the government-controlled oil company that owns U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp. McCormick found the appointments were valid.

In one of the Twitter cases she’s handling, an investor wants the company’s board to hand over internal files about Musk’s bid and about his assertion the platform is riddled with spam accounts, known as bots.

McCormick, a native of the tiny Kent County town of Smyrna, graduated from Harvard College and Notre Dame University’s law school. She’s known in Wilmington legal circles as a fervent Notre Dame football fan.

The case is Twitter v. Musk, 22-0613, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).

(Updates with other cases judge has handled.)

To contact the reporters on this story:
David Voreacos in New York at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net;
Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware at jfeeley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Katia Porzecanski at kporzecansk1@bloomberg.net

Peter Blumberg

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