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DOJ Confirms Appointment of Munger Tolles & Olson Partner Pomerantz to Trial Team in Antitrust Case Against AT&T

rebneely — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:20:00 +0000

According to the November 22nd wsj.com blog, “Munger Tolles’s Merger-Buster Joins DOJ Team”, the Justice Department confirmed in recent days that it had hired Glenn Pomerantz, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson, and an experienced litigator, to strengthen its trial team for its antitrust case against AT&T’s $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA.

Pomerantz, per the blog, has been hired as a “special government employee,” a spokeswoman said. This is the same designation given to David Boies in 1998; at that time he led the government’s antitrust case against Microsoft.

Per the blog, the spokeswoman was quoted as saying Pomerantz is “an experienced litigator with substantial expertise in trying complex litigation matters.” In addition, she was quoted as saying that he would be the “perfect complement to the team of experienced telecommunications staff, led by deputy attorney general Joe Wayland.”

In his private practice, Pomerantz has worked mostly with entertainment and media companies. He represented the major Hollywood studios and music labels. In 2011, he won a $105 million settlement for the record labels from the defunct online music sharing service LimeWire.

The hire is further evidence that the Justice Department is preparing for battle, even as AT&T tries to settle out of court. Attorney General Eric Holder recently was quoted as saying of the situation in the blog: “There is a trial team that is in place and they are ready and eager to go to court.”

Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP (MTO) is a California law firm that has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Charles Munger founded the firm in 1962 with six other lawyers. The firm is known for its defense of corporations in civil law suits and individuals in criminal trials and investigations. In 2008, Munger, Tolles & Olson ranked as the nation’s top law firm on the American Lawyer A-List based on financial performance, pro bono practice, associate satisfaction and workplace diversity. With nearly 200 attorneys, MTO’s work is national in scope. The firm’s principal areas of practice include bankruptcy, corporate, environmental, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and tax.

In the November 29^th news.cnet.com article, “FCC report slams AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile”, the FCC, in a nearly 110 page report, said a merger of the two wireless carriers “would substantially lessen competition and its accompanying innovation, investment, and consumer price and service benefits.”

The FCC released the report in spite of AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s objections. It also accused the carriers of making misleading statements about the benefits of the merger.

Per the article, the report states: “The staff finds the applicants’ assertions that the transaction would create jobs in the United States to be inconsistent with AT&T’s internal analyses and record statements concerning cost reductions from the merger. The staff also finds that there are serious questions whether the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile would cause other public harms that are not offset by the claimed benefits.”

Former FCC Attorney Joins Jenner & Block

rebneely — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:05:46 +0000

Ajit V. Pai, a former high-level Federal Communications Commission attorney, has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office.

At the FCC, Mr. Pai served as Deputy General Counsel, Associate General Counsel, and Special Advisor to the General Counsel. He will join the firm’s nationally recognized Communications Practice.

Susan C. Levy, Managing Partner of Jenner & Block, was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “We are very excited to have Ajit join the Firm. His extensive knowledge of the FCC, his in-depth experience at the Department of Justice and in the Senate, and his in-house work at a prominent telecommunications company will augment our top-tier Communications Practice.”

In 2007, Mr. Pai joined the FCC Office of the General Counsel. As Deputy General Counsel, he supervised over 40 lawyers in the Administrative Law Division, and handled a broad range of regulatory and transactional matters involving the cable, Internet, wireless, media, and satellite industries, among others.

During his time with the Commission, he also advised FCC Chairmen of both political parties and each of the current, and several former, Commissioners. He worked on nearly every major matter that arose in the agency, including Internet network management, wireless spectrum auctions, the Sirius-XM merger, and media ownership questions.

He also worked with every agency bureau and office on a wide variety of rulemakings, adjudications, and administrative matters and had significant legal and policy input on virtually every major decision the agency considered. Additionally, he was responsible for non-communications legal matters, including privacy, intellectual property and environmental law.

Over the course of Mr. Pai’s distinguished career, he has held a number of public-sector jobs involving telecommunications, administrative, and constitutional law. These include serving as an Honors Program trial attorney with the Telecommunications Task Force of the United States Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts; Senior Counsel in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy; and Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights.

Jenner & Block’s approximately 470 attorneys are located in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC, and offer substantial experience in a broad range of legal areas.

Net Neutrality Case Unbalanced

julie — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:09:08 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission has hit a stumbling block in its efforts to enforce net neutrality on internet providers. Why? According to Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals, there’s no law to cite. Congress hasn’t passed a law that would empower the FCC to regulate how internet providers, such as Comcast, deliver their services. Internet providers have long fought any such regulation which would hamper their ability to artificially create scarcity by denying certain services to subscribers. Two years ago, Comcast and BitTorrent got into a tiff over large bandwidth access, probably spurred on by the Motion Picture Association of America’s complaints about illegal downloads. All of these companies are looking out for themselves, as they should. Perhaps someone should be looking out for the consumer. Anyone? Bueller?

Net neutrality is a principle advocating equal access to the internet without restriction for anyone regardless of what they are using to connect to the internet.

Morning Roundup

sara — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:29:09 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Thursday, March 25, and here’s a look back at yesterday’s news…

Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman LLP take on the band Green Day for copyright infringement…

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sues the federal government to stop the health care bill…

A new study details the “client revolution”…

UnitedHealth fraud is symptomatic of larger economic woes…

Seyfarth Shaw offers an overview of California employment law…

Former public relations specialist Susan Finkelstein is on trial after exchanging sex for World Series tickets…

Former FCC Commissioner Tyrone Brown leaves Wiley Rein…

Camille Cantrell has joined the Atlanta office of Hawkins, Parnell & Thackston…

Anna Nicole Smith’s estate loses a $300 million claim in court…

Former FCC Chair Reed Hundt is Moving to Skadden Arps

joshua — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:50:50 +0000

Reed Hundt, FCC Chairman from 1993 to 1997, announced at a panel on the regulatory process at a Yale Law School Alumni function that he is joining Skadden. The announcement came after the moderator introduced him as a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company. No news yet on which office or practice group(s) Hundt will join, but the Washington DC office seems a safe bet, and Skadden has an information technology practice group and a media and entertainment practice as well. Prior to his stint at the FCC, Chariman Hundt was a partner at Latham & Watkins where he was involved in legal and regulatory issues in emerging technologies.

Patton Boggs Picks up Former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin

joshua — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:43:51 +0000

Kevin Martin, who stepped down as FCC Chairman earlier this year, has joined Patton Boggs. Along with Jennifer Richter, Martin will co-chair the firm’s telecommunication practice. Martin was head of the FCC for eight years.

Patton Boggs LLP is a full service law firm with more than 600 lawyers and professionals in nine locations in the United States and the Middle East.