Apple feuds with court-appointed BigLaw monitor over his access, firm's 2-week $138K bill
The relationship between Apple Inc. and a Goodwin Procter partner appointed by a federal court to monitor the company’s compliance with antitrust laws concerning its e-book marketing hasn’t been going well.
In a Monday filing in the Manhattan case accompanied by hundreds of email copies, monitor Michael Bromwich says Apple has resisted his efforts to meet with senior executives in the company and failed to turn over relevant documents he requested, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
“This is far less access than I have ever received during a comparable period of time in the three other monitorships I have conducted,” says Bromwich in the filing.
Meanwhile, Apple has complained in prior filings about the $1,000-plus per hour being charged by Bromwich and his team, and contends that he has exceeded his authorized role by “operating in an unfettered and inappropriate manner,” the newspaper reports.
The bill for the Goodwin firm’s first two weeks of work was a stunning $138,432.40, Apple complains. It is asking the court to put the monitoring on hold while the company appeals a July decision by a federal judge that the company violated antitrust law by colluding with publishers to increase the price of e-books.
Earlier Bloomberg and Fortune articles provide additional details.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Apple vows appeal after judge’s ‘stern rebuke’ of e-book strategy”
