Texas, along with Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kentucky and Puerto Rico are accusing Google of violating antitrust laws by unlawfully maintaining or attempting to acquire a monopoly in markets associated with online display advertising. If guilty, Google employees could face jail time and the company could be forced to pay up to $10 million.
Google requested to have the case tried in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, “because the Northern District of California constitutes a clearly more convenient forum for this action.” However, the motion was denied. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan announced yesterday that the jury selection will begin on March 31, 2025 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, located in Plano.
The antitrust action was first filed in December of 2020. After moving to the Southern District of New York in August of 2021, remanding back to Texas in June of 2023 and proposed schedules were submitted by both parties in November of 2023, the official deadlines have been announced.
Between now and March 31, Google and the State of Texas et al. will go through fact-finding and expert testimonies before settling on witness lists, deposition extracts, exhibits and pretrial order before the trial begins. Jury selection and trial are set to occur at 10 a.m. at the United States Courthouse located at 7940 Preston Road. The trail is expected to last four weeks, according to Jordan’s order.
Google has denied any wrongdoing. The company has been in several similar lawsuits recently, one of which is already on trial in Washington D.C. and another that will be held later this year in Virginia.
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