The Court of Chancery has discretion to expedite a proceeding if the circumstances so warrant. The Court recently ruled on a request for expedition in the case of In re The Williams Companies, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 11236-VCN (Del. Ch. Jan. 13, 2016). This opinion provides a good illustration of the Court's analysis in deciding to grant expedition of a case.
There, the Court stated that in order to grant expedition, a party must "make a good cause showing of a colorable claim and irreparable injury." The underlying claim asserted by plaintiff initially was failure of the company to enter into a lucrative merger. The case was then stayed to allow the company to negotiate said merger, and once entered into, the claims were amended for failure to make adequate disclosures surrounding the merger. In doing do, the class asserted a claim for alleged misconduct on the part of one of thirteen directors of the company.
The Court found that there is no colorable claim that the Company's shareholders are being deprived of information material to their decision to approve (or reject) the transaction at issue. Accordingly, the Court denied plaintiff's motion to expedite.
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