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Robert Van Nest, a superstar trial lawyer for leading tech companies across Silicon Valley facing bet-the-company litigation, is in talks to represent California and other states if they file a lawsuit to block Paramount‘s $110 billion megadeal for Warner Bros. Discovery, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Van Nest met with California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office on Friday to discuss a role on the case, said a person familiar with the situation. No final decision has been made. If he joins, he’ll square off against Paramount’s legal team led by antitrust heavyweight Jeffrey Kessler and Makan Delrahim, Trump’s former assistant attorney general for antitrust.
The talks occurred as a coalition of states led by California prepares a lawsuit to block the deal that’s expected to be filed within a month, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Most of the states are led by Democratic attorneys general, though the group includes Republican prosecutors who’ve joined California in its bid to stop Nexstar’s $6.2 billion proposed acquisition of Tegna. New York, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Connecticut and Tennessee are among the several states in talks to join.
