Twitter urges judge not to delay its hearing on Elon Musk's deal, arguing the 'very public dispute' hurts the company with each passing day

• Twitter wants a judge to expedite its case against Elon Musk, who attempted to pull out of a deal to buy the company.
• Musk says the trial shouldn't happen until February 2023.

Twitter on Monday said it's crucial that its case against Elon Musk be heard by a Delaware court as soon as possible, not in February as the Tesla billionaire has requested.

"The earliest possible trial date is imperative," lawyers for the social-media company said in a document filed in Delaware Chancery Court. "This very public dispute harms Twitter with each passing day Musk is in breach. Musk amplifies this harm by using the Company's own platform as a megaphone to disparage it."

Last Tuesday, Twitter sued Musk after he tried to back out of a contract to buy the social-media company for $44 billion. In the lawsuit, Twitter asked for the case to be fast-tracked and heard in September, citing the negative impact that a lengthy legal battle would have on its business.

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In response, lawyers for Musk requested that the trial start in February 2023 at the earliest. Musk said it would take a considerable amount of time to properly investigate and exchange information about the number of spam accounts on Twitter's platform, the core of his dispute against the company.

In Monday's filing, Twitter's lawyers called Musk's proposed timeline "unreasonably elongated" and said his claims about bot accounts are "a contractually irrelevant sideshow that Musk wants to use to disparage Twitter and prolong this litigation." They reiterated the importance of a speedy trial.

"Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt. No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties," they said.

Lawyers for Musk did not immediately return a request for comment.