Google's Trial in Justice Department's Antitrust Case Set for September 2023

By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON -- Government antitrust cases challenging Google's business practices are going to be a long road in court.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington said Friday it will be almost three years before a trial begins in the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit alleging Google uses a web of exclusionary agreements and other tactics to preserve a monopoly for its flagship search engine and related advertising business.

Judge Mehta set a tentative trial date of Sept. 12, 2023, based on a lengthy proposed schedule laid out by the parties.

"If anybody thought we would be getting to trial quickly, this certainly will dispel that notion," the judge said during a telephonic hearing.

A group of 11 state attorneys general joined with the Justice Department in filing the lawsuit in October. Three additional states, including California, have since moved to join it.

A separate group of 35 states, led by Colorado and Nebraska, filed broader but related antitrust claims against Google in a new lawsuit Thursday that also has been assigned to Judge Mehta. That case alleged the company is unlawfully leveraging its search dominance to limit consumers from using competing search engines, and to force businesses to use its proprietary advertising tools.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., denies both sets of allegations, saying it has designed its products and services to improve experiences for consumers.

Judge Mehta said he would like to get the new 35-state case on the same coordinated schedule as the Justice Department-led case, at least in terms of preparing for litigation.

It is possible the two cases could eventually be consolidated into the same trial, but Google lawyers said they were still reviewing the new lawsuit and had no position yet on whether the two sets of allegations should be tried together or separately.

The proposed schedule in the Justice Department case includes about 450 days for both sides to engage in the legal discovery process of gathering information and exchanging materials about evidence that may be presented at trial. The schedule also includes months for the parties to develop and exchange reports from their economic experts, and it builds in a time window in which Google will have the opportunity to seek a ruling against the government's case before trial.

The Justice Department estimated that the eventual trial could take 10 to 12 weeks. Google's legal team said it expected any trial to be considerably shorter.

Judge Mehta said the initial scheduling timeline was subject to changes as needed, given the size and scope of the litigation. He scheduled a next status hearing for Jan. 21.

Google is facing a third government antitrust lawsuit filed by Texas and nine other Republican-led states related to its digital-advertising practices. The states filed that case in a Texas federal court on Wednesday.

Write to Brent Kendall at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2020 16:34 ET (21:34 GMT)

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