Paramount Seeks Judge Pitts' Recusal Before Friday TRO Hearing in WBD Merger Case
Updated
Updated · Deadline · Jul 15
Paramount Seeks Judge Pitts' Recusal Before Friday TRO Hearing in WBD Merger Case
2 articles · Updated · Deadline · Jul 15
Summary
Paramount asked a federal court on Wednesday to remove U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts from the states’ antitrust challenge to its Warner Bros. Discovery merger before a Friday temporary restraining order hearing.
Pitts was randomly assigned the case Tuesday, and Paramount argues his past work at Altshuler Berzon as longtime counsel to the Writers Guild of America creates an appearance of bias under Section 455(a).
The company said the WGA is not just a bystander: it has filed a related case, publicly backed the state attorneys general’s suit and committed to work with regulators to block the deal.
Paramount asked that the case be reassigned to Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who already oversees a consumer lawsuit filed in April and had already been seen as a possible venue for related merger litigation.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office declined comment, leaving the recusal fight as an immediate procedural hurdle ahead of the states’ bid to halt the merger.