Elite law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has turned to a law firm that has previously represented Elon Musk's Tesla to fight Musk's lawsuit over $90 million in legal fees Wachtell earned in forcing the billionaire to consummate his buyout of Twitter.

Two Morrison & Foerster partners, Jordan Eth and Ragesh Tangri, were identified as representing Wachtell in court papers filed in San Francisco Superior Court last week by Musk's attorneys.

Eth and Tangri did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did spokespersons for their firm or Wachtell. A Wachtell spokesperson previously called Musk's lawsuit against the firm "meritless."

Musk sued Wachtell last month to recover most of a $90 million fee the firm received from Twitter, now known as X, for defeating Musk's bid in Delaware court to walk away from his $44 billion buyout of the social media company.

Musk accused Wachtell of exploiting Twitter by accepting, in the final days before the Oct. 27, 2022, buyout closed, huge "success" fees doled out by departing Twitter executives who were grateful that the deal would be finalized.

The Wachtell case could offer a rare public glimpse inside one of the country's top law firms focused on billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions work. Law firms generally are highly protective of their internal communications, billing records and business development efforts.

Musk's lawsuit included exhibits revealing the confidential billing rates of more than 60 Wachtell timekeepers in 2022, including one lawyer who billed Twitter more than $2,000 an hour in the Delaware buyout litigation.

Musk, one of the richest people in the world, called the $90 million payout "unconscionable," arguing that Wachtell had billed less than one-third that sum for its few months of work on the Delaware lawsuit.

Morrison & Foerster, a prominent San Francisco-founded law firm, has previously represented Tesla, the electric vehicle maker Musk also owns, in at least two lawsuits, according to state and federal court records.

Tesla agreed to pay $1.5 million in 2021 to settle the claims brought by owners of 1,743 of its Model S sedans in one of the cases.

Morrison & Foerster also represented Tesla in a long-running securities lawsuit brought by 47 former employees in San Mateo, California, Superior Court that the electric car maker defeated in December.

Eth co-leads the firm's securities litigation, enforcement and white-collar defense group, and has represented Oracle, Softbank and Yahoo.

Tangri joined Morrison & Foerster in January when it absorbed his litigation firm Durie Tangri, whose clients have included Activision Blizzard, Alphabet Inc's Google and Netflix.

On Wednesday, Wachtell asked the San Francisco court for more time to answer Musk's lawsuit.

The case is X Corp v Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, California Superior Court, County of San Francisco, No. CGC-23-607461.