[1] David Ellefson and David Mustaine are both original members of the heavy metal band Megadeth formed in 1983 and incorporated in 1990 with Mustaine receiving eighty percent of the stock and Ellefson receiving twenty percent of the stock.

In October 2003 the parties entered negotiations to settle the disputes between them, leading to discussions of a buy-out of Ellefson's share of the corporation.

On April 16, 2004, Ellefson was sent a proposed "Settlement and General Release" for purchasing his interest and various licensing agreements.

On May 14, shortly after 4:45 pm, Ellefson sent a completed signature page via fax after receiving the final agreement.

The plaintiff argued that the court should reject that the regular U.S. mail was an unreasonable method of acceptance since it was not used in communications.