Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick Appointed To Rule Over Twitter’s Delaware Suit Against Elon Musk

For the upcoming Twitter versus Elon Musk saga that’s going to take place in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, the case is going to be overseen by the court’s first female chief judge, Kathaleen McCormick. 

McCormick took on the role last year and “was appointed to the bench in 2021 by Delaware Governor John Carney, a Democrat,” according to Bloomberg Law. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Notre Dame University’s law school.

She will first be tasked with ruling on a request by Twitter to hold a four-day trial in September – a ruling that may give us some idea as to the pace of how quickly the trial may move forward and whether the court sees the case as simple, or complex, to rule on. 

“Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, Musk apparently believes that he — unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law — is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away,” Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk claims. 

Nathan Anderson of Hindenburg Research pointed out on Twitter yesterday that McCormick had recently awarded specific performance – the clause that would, in essence, force Musk to pay up for all of Twitter – in a recent April 2021 case.

A Chancellor has been assigned in the Twitter v. Musk case.

The same Chancellor, Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, awarded specific performance in a recent April 2021 case. $TWTRhttps://t.co/Wjv7li0L1m https://t.co/4elB811aF7

— Nate Anderson (@ClarityToast) July 13, 2022

Other Tweet threads noted her “scathing” decision in the case. 

2. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick took the case.

Read her fun, scathing DecoPac decision (requiring Specific Performance – she was a Vice Chancellor then).

She’s the one in the middle of the photo, because she is now THE Chancellor (aka, the chief).

And she wants this one… pic.twitter.com/aVrajA87A6

— Compound248 (@compound248) July 13, 2022

Recall, yesterday on CNBC one former vice chancellor, Carolyn Berger, said that “Twitter has a chance of winning if the facts prevail, but not necessarily under terms of ‘specific performance.'”.

With @Twitter taking @elonmusk to Delaware court, former vice chancellor Carolyn Berger gives her judgment on the complaint submitted to @davidfaber: Twitter has a chance of winning if the facts prevail, but not necessarily under terms of “specific performance.” $TWTR@CNBC pic.twitter.com/BC4dQIgBDN

— Squawk on the Street (@SquawkStreet) July 13, 2022

And so, for now, it seems like opinion on the outcome is divided until the next chapter of the saga begins when the litigants take to court.