Paramount Gets New Judge In State AGs Antitrust Suit

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 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 Tuesday to block the merger.