Even The Judge Doesn’t Want To Deal With The Elon v. Wachtell Spat

(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

When people think of financial claims, breaches of contract, and celebrities courting trouble, they usually think of lawsuits. Outside of trial by combat — and his mommy telling him to stop — we usually think of Elon settling his legal troubles in court. This time, he may have to settle matters in a different way. From Reuters:

A $90 million legal clash between Elon Musk and the law firm that helped force him to complete his $44 billion buyout of Twitter should be heard by arbitrators rather than in court for now, a California state judge said in a ruling on Tuesday.

Judge Richard Ulmer of San Francisco Superior Court agreed with law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen Katz that “the parties clearly and unmistakably” agreed to let an arbitrator decide which claims, if any, are subject to arbitration.

I am sure that this decision rests purely on the facts of the case and is not Judge Ulmer’s polite way of saying, “I don’t want to deal with this shit.” I’d do the same if I were asked to preside over two parties fighting to the death over pennies. Sure $90 million sounds a lot in the abstract, but this a firm asking for a pittance for work they did on a $44 billion dollar deal from a man with a net worth of $255.7 billion according to Forbes. That $90 million is either ~.20% of the Twitter deal or .0351974971% of Elon’s net worth. Here’s further context — if you’re some entry-level Biglaw associate making $200,000 a year, being sued for .0351974971% of your net worth would be about $70. You going to court for that? I doubt it.

But hey, this is the guy who got his sycophants to cheer him on for misquoting someone trying to put a dent in world hunger to own the libs. Talk about a penny pincher.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Fee Fight With Law Firm Wachtell Belongs In Arbitration, Judge Says [Reuters]

Earlier: World’s Richest Man’s Complains About Law Firm’s ‘Greed’

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.