A federal judge who was critical of the Comcast-NBC Universal (NBCU) merger before signing off on the media megadeal in 2011 will oversee the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block AT&T’s similar takeover of Time Warner.
Judge Richard Leon is a George W. Bush-appointee who has served on the US District Court for DC since 2002. On Tuesday, November 23, he was randomly assigned to the case — one of the biggest antitrust showdowns to hit a Washington courtroom in years.
The case had been assigned to Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama-appointee, but was switched to Leon’s courtroom less than two hours later. The court did not provide a reason for the reassignment, however, Cooper’s wife works at the law firm Arnold & Porter, which is lead counsel for AT&T on antitrust issues, posing a potential conflict.
Leon is a conservative and veteran judge with a legal resume that includes time in the Reagan Justice Department and on the House Banking Committee’s Whitewater investigation. He has issued prominent decisions against government overreach, most notably a 2013 opinion calling the NSA’s collection of domestic phone records “almost-Orwellian” and unconstitutional.
But his skepticism of the Comcast deal will be closely studied by attorneys on all sides of the case. Comcast-NBCU was one of the most high-profile media deals to face antitrust scrutiny in recent years until now.
In the suit filed against AT&T and Time Warner on Monday, the Justice Department argued that the deal violates antitrust law because the new company would likely “use its control of Time Warner’s popular programming as a weapon to harm competition.”
Full Content: Bloomberg
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
FTC Throws the Bag: Tapestry’s Capri Deal Blocked Over Market Monopoly Concerns
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Italy’s Antitrust Authority Investigates Enel’s Communication of Energy Price Hikes
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
UK Data Regulator Uncovers Flaws in Google’s Privacy Sandbox Proposal
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Japan’s Antitrust Body Orders Google to Amend Ad Search Practices
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Senator Blackburn Blasts Ticketmaster Amid DOJ Probe
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI