Paramount Gets New Judge In State AGs Antitrust Challenge To WBD Deal

The State of California et al v. Paramount Skydance Corporation et al has been reassigned to Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin and it appears that an initial hearing to consider a temporary restraining order on the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is still set for this coming Friday.

Judge P. Casey Pitts was initially assigned the case, which was filed Monday in federal court in the Northern District of California by a dozen state Attorneys General. led by California AG Rob Bonta. Paramount filed a motion earlier Wednesday seeking to have the judge recused from the case. The company’s attorneys argued that Pitts has an “appearance of bias” because of his prior legal work for the Writers Guild of America. The WGA filed a separate suit yesterday to block the merger.

Pitts had been randomly assigned to the case on Tuesday.

Paramount’s legal team had requested the AG’s case be reassigned to Judge Martínez-Olguín in Oakland County, who is overseeing a related lawsuit that was brought by a group of consumers in April. There already has been some expectation that the case would be reassigned to her, even before Paramount’s latest motion, given previous filings that the litigation is related.

Earlier today, a Paramount shareholder filed a suit in Delaware Chancery Court against the Ellisons and the board on behalf of the company.

These are critical days for the $110-billion deal, which Paramount has been hoping to close in the third quarter.