Paramount Skydance has prevailed in its first court docket transfer to defend its Warner Bros. Discovery merger — prompting the departure of a choose who initially had been assigned the high-profile antitrust case.
Late Wednesday, U.S. District Choose Araceli Martínez-Olguín took over the case introduced by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and 11 different Democratic state attorneys common. The states’ coalition is making an attempt to derail Paramount’s proposed $111-billion buy of Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging it violates a century-old antitrust regulation.
Court docket data present U.S. District Choose P. Casey Pitts, based mostly in San Jose, had initially been assigned. Early Wednesday, Paramount filed a movement requesting that Pitts step apart, citing his earlier function as a labor lawyer, together with for the Writers Guild of America.
The WGA joined the authorized fray Tuesday by bringing its personal antitrust grievance in opposition to Paramount, alleging the proposed union of two of Hollywood’s largest studios would result in fewer jobs and decrease pay for writers.
In its movement, Paramount argued that Pitts’ previous affiliation with the Hollywood union was problematic.
“An affordable individual would query Choose Pitts’ impartiality on this case based mostly on his prior work,” Paramount’s attorneys, led by Jeffrey Kessler, wrote of their eight-page movement.
Martínez-Olguín has been overseeing a separate lawsuit that additionally challenges Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros.
5 Paramount+ subscribers sued in late April to unravel the merger, claiming Paramount’s proposed consolidation of streaming providers, movie studios and nationwide information networks — CBS Information and CNN — would result in greater costs and hurt to shoppers.
Paramount, in its movement, had requested that Martínez-Olguín preside over the state attorneys common lawsuit.
Martínez-Olguín, in an order, mentioned she would now conduct a listening to that Pitts had scheduled for Friday to judge Bonta’s request for a short lived restraining order to forestall Paramount from finalizing the blockbuster transaction whereas the litigation is pending.
The Oakland-based choose joined the federal bench three years in the past after being nominated by former President Biden. She was confirmed by the Senate in 2023 when former Vice President Kamala Harris solid a deciding vote to interrupt a Senate impasse.
The choose is a former immigration legal professional.
Pitts, who relies in San José, additionally has served as a choose for 3 years. In December, he determined a major case in opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that barred ICE brokers from making courthouse arrests.
Each side went together with the choose swap, following a long-standing authorized apply of getting one choose oversee associated circumstances.
The three lawsuits, all filed within the Northern California district, could ultimately be mixed. On Wednesday, Martínez-Olguín mentioned the circumstances might journey collectively however she stopped in need of consolidating them.
