It is on in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, where the lawsuit filed by Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. against DaimlerChrysler AG is just days away from its December 1 trial date. In November 2000, Chrysler shareholders, including Kerkorian, sued DaimlerChrysler claiming that they were misled into approving the 1998 deal that was portrayed as a merger between two equals. The lawsuits claimed that in reality, Daimler-Benz acquired Chrysler. The damages sought by Tracinda alone are reportedly as much as $2 billion.

Several twists in the last few weeks have created the highest-stakes game of chicken in recent memory:

In August 2003, DaimlerChrysler announced a $300 million settlement of the securities class action lawsuit. Tracinda, however, did not settle its case. At the time of the settlement, DaimlerChrysler stated that "[a]lthough DaimlerChrysler believes that the class action is completely without merit, the company has agreed to a settlement, since a local jury could have reached a different conclusion."

The AP reported that on November 7, 2003, the federal court in Delaware granted DaimlerChrysler's motion requesting that the court, not a jury, hear Tracinda's case against the company, which also presumably eliminated any "local jury" settlement rationale.

Finally, the AP reported that on November 21, 2003, the federal court in Delaware denied DaimlerChrysler's motion for summary judgment, setting the stage for the December 1 trial.

Both sides claim to be ready to go, and the Financial Times reports that both Jürgen Schrempp (the head of DaimlerChrysler) and Kerkorian are planning to testify.