An attorney for the court-appointed custodian in the TransPerfect dispute said in a court filing that a month of mediation between the firm's warring co-founders has failed, a development that sets up the possibility of key court rulings as the company accelerates toward a court-ordered sale.

Douglas D. Herrmann, who is representing custodian Robert B. Pincus, told a Delaware federal judge on Thursday that Philip R. Shawe and Elizabeth Elting were unable to hash out their deep-seated differences in sessions with former Delaware Court of Chancery Chancellor William B. Chandler III. The court's current chancellor, Andre G. Bouchard, had ordered the parties to mediation June 2.

The statement Thursday came on the same day potential buyers were due to submit their first indications of interest to acquire the profitable translation-services company, and it contributed to a new sense of urgency by Pincus, a partner with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and his lawyers to seek an end to litigation in both state and federal courts.