Inside the shadowy Delaware court set to decide Musk v. Twitter fate

When Elon Musk and Twitter face off in court in October, there won’t be a jury or cameras.

The judge won’t really be bound by the law, either.

That’s because Twitter brought its lawsuit against the Tesla billionaire in the Delaware Court of Chancery, where some of the world’s biggest businesses often battle out their disputes in obscurity.

Insiders say the so-called equity court, a relic of the British legal system, is an insular judicial body where the judges are often friendly with the lawyers they hand down wins to — and where money and jobs are traded without much second-thought. 

“Cases in the Delaware Chancery are really heavily based on your attorney’s relationship with the given chancellor that’s handling your case,” said Phil Shawe, CEO and co-founder of translation company TransPerfect, who has had matters heard before the court.