The document, which could be filed in the District Court for the Southern District of New York as early as Friday, will provide some perspective on Nasdaq's role on listing day and the effect the exchange's action had on the stock's trading activity, the paper said, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

The lead underwriters for the initial public offering, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are also expected to join the motion, the paper reported.

Nasdaq has been widely criticized for poor communication during and after the Facebook IPO, the most highly anticipated market debut in recent memory, and for failing to apologize for the technical problems in the first hours of trading of Facebook shares.

Officials at Facebook and Nasdaq could not be reached for comment outside usual business hours.

(Reporting by Adithya Venkatesan in Bangalore; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency