Risk Update

Conflicts & DQ News — Musk Maintains Lawyer Amid DQ Objections, Judicial Friendship Sparks Disqualification Motions,

Posted Dan Bressler

“Musk wins fight to keep lawyer Alex Spiro in Twitter trial” —

  • “Elon Musk has persuaded a judge that his longtime [Quinn Emanuel] lawyer Alex Spiro can represent him in a shareholder lawsuit over the billionaire’s 2022 Twitter acquisition even though he may be a trial witness in the case.”
  • “San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in a ruling on Monday rejected the plaintiffs’ objections that allowing Spiro to act as both advocate and witness would confuse jurors. The shareholders had argued that Spiro was ‘at the epicenter of virtually every important decision’ during Musk’s pursuit of Twitter and later efforts to walk away from the deal.”
  • “Musk’s interest in keeping his chosen counsel, Breyer said, weighed against disqualification.”
  • “The lawsuit claims Musk used misleading social media posts to drive down Twitter’s stock price to escape his $44 billion deal or negotiate a lower price for the platform, now renamed X. Musk has denied any wrongdoing.”
  • “Musk’s lawyers called the effort to disqualify Spiro a ‘Hail Mary’ before a February 2026 trial, saying the investors waited too long to object to Spiro’s role. Musk on Tuesday asked the court to push the trial back until March. His lawyers said Musk ‘has a highly confidential and personal pre-existing and immovable commitment’ in late February that will not allow him to attend the trial and testify. The filing said the undisclosed matter was ‘sensitive’ and can’t be disclosed publicly.”
  • “The judge said Musk gave written consent for Spiro to serve as both attorney and witness and concluded that the plaintiffs failed to show how his dual role would harm them.”
  • “Breyer called concerns about jury confusion ‘generic’ and said courts can manage risks with instructions and limits on questioning. He noted that other witnesses could cover most of the topics plaintiffs identified and questioned whether Spiro’s testimony was ‘genuinely needed.'”
  • “Spiro, with hourly rates of at least $3,000, has represented Musk in many cases and counts actor Alec Baldwin and New York Mayor Eric Adams among his other clients.”

“Google Challenges Motion to Disqualify Judge Over Friendship in Ongoing Antitrust Litigation” —

  • “Google is contesting Unlockd Media’s motion to disqualify U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. from presiding over an antitrust lawsuit in the Northern District of California. Unlockd’s request is based on Judge Gilliam’s friendship with Cassandra Knight, Google’s Vice President for Litigation and Discovery.”
  • “Google argues that this relationship does not necessitate recusal, emphasizing that Knight has not participated in the case and that mere friendship between a judge and a lawyer does not require disqualification.”
  • “Unlockd filed its lawsuit in September 2021, alleging that Google’s actions, including banning the company from its app store and AdMob, led to its demise. Judge Gilliam dismissed Unlockd’s case in February 2025, deeming it based on ‘unsupported conclusions.'”
  • “In a related matter, Rumble, a video-sharing platform, has also sought Judge Gilliam’s recusal in its antitrust case against Google, citing the same relationship with Knight. Google has opposed this motion as well, maintaining that the friendship does not warrant disqualification.”