Logo text
Jeffrey Kessler, a heavyweight in antitrust litigation who most recently secured a landmark win for states suing Live Nation, will defend Paramount‘s $110 billion megadeal for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The studio doesn’t expect legal challenges from the Justice Department, state prosecutors or foreign regulators, though Kessler would lead the studio’s defense if any are filed, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The addition of Kessler bolsters Paramount’s formidable legal team, led by Makan Delrahim, Trump’s former assistant attorney general for antitrust. Also representing the studio: David Gelfand, ex-deputy assistant attorney general for litigation in the antitrust division under former President Barack Obama, and lawyers at Latham & Watkins and Cravath, Swaine & Moore who have been seeking regulatory approval of the deal.
On Friday, a federal judge accepted Kessler’s application to represent the studio in a lawsuit filed by consumers challenging merger. The case is the opening salvo over the purchase that will reshape Hollywood.
