(Bloomberg) -- The Tesla Inc. shareholder who successfully challenged co-founder Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package is asking the Delaware court for an order barring Musk from trying to move the dispute to Texas.

Musk has been threatening to move Tesla’s corporate home to Texas after Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick ruled his pay package was flawed because of director conflicts and Tesla officials’ failure to properly disclose the compensation plan’s details. Tesla has filed a proxy request that shareholders approve the reincorporation move and reinstate Musk’s pay package.

Musk and Tesla’s directors “should not be permitted to evade this court’s post-trial opinion, which applies the law of the jurisdiction in which Tesla has been incorporated” for about 21 years, lawyers for Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta said in a Delaware Chancery Court filing made public Wednesday.

It’s unclear what impact a McCormick order keeping the case in Delaware would have. If Tesla reincorporates in Texas and its board approves Musk’s pay there, that would presumably have to be challenged in a new lawsuit under Texas law.

Musk lawyer Evan Chesler didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Yale Law School Professor Jonathan Macey said Tornetta’s filing seems “very premature” because Tesla hasn’t filed any action in Texas. He said it was likely motivated by the lawyers’ concern that shareholders will ratify Musk’s pay package, which would pose an “existential threat” to their request for billions of dollars in attorneys’ fees.

McCormick has set a July 8 hearing to review the fee request by Tornetta’s lawyers and issue a final order in the case. The lawyers on Tuesday asked the judge to rule on their request to keep the case in Delaware before Tesla’s June 13 annual meeting, when the proxy vote is due to take place. 

A Texas move may allow Musk and his fellow directors to “evade, block, or otherwise interfere” with the judge’s ruling on the billionaire’s pay. They also asked the judge to place some 29 million Tesla shares in escrow, expressing concern about potentially having to also seek fee approval from a judge in Texas.

After McCormick issues a final ruling, Musk will have 30 days to appeal the case to the Delaware Supreme Court. It’s possible he will eschew the lengthy appeal process in favor of having his pay package approved again once Tesla’s reincorporated in Texas 

Robyn Denholm, the chair of Tesla’s board, criticized McCormick’s January decision in the proxy, noting it effectively second-guessed shareholders who approved Musk’s performance-based award in 2018. Tesla directors also deny the Texas move is motivated by a desire to reinstate Musk’s original compensation award. The company moved its headquarters to Texas in 2021.

Musk has also moved to reincorporate several of his other companies. SpaceX filed to move to Texas from Delaware in February, shortly after Neuralink Corp. reincorporated in Nevada.

The Delaware case is Tornetta v. Musk, 2018-0408, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).

(Updates with details from filing.)

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