Risk Update

Communications Conflicts News — Sidley DQ’d in Huawei Case, DoJ DQ Denied (T-Mobile Merger Fight)

Posted Dan Bressler

“NY Judge Disqualifies Sidley’s James Cole From Defending Huawei” —

  • “A federal judge on Tuesday barred James Cole, a former deputy U.S. attorney general, from continuing to defend the Chinese telecom Huawei, siding with federal prosecutors who argued the Sidley Austin partner should be disqualified based on his role in an unspecified investigation during his tenure at the Justice Department.”
  • “U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly’s decision to disqualify Cole came almost six months after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn argued that an “obvious conflict of interest” should prevent him from representing Huawei, which is facing charges it violated sanctions against Iran.”
  • “In extensively redacted papers, federal prosecutors did not publicly specify the past investigation that purportedly presented a conflict of interest, but they raised concerns that Cole could use information from the probe to help Huawei. Prosecutors said the court could have “no confidence that Cole will not use, whether intentionally or not, information” from that investigation.”

“DOJ Can’t DQ Munger Tolles In Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Fight” —

  • “A New York federal judge on Thursday shot down a bid by the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in several states’ effort to block Sprint and T-Mobile’s planned merger, saying that it was “inexcusable” that the attempt to disqualify the states’ lead counsel at Munger Tolles & Olson was filed so late.”
  • “The DOJ had argued that Munger Tolles attorney Glenn D. Pomerantz and the firm should have been disqualified because of Pomerantz’s work for the federal government in its 2011 challenge of AT&T’s bid to purchase T-Mobile.”
  • “In addition to the fact that the request was filed at the eleventh hour, the judge also criticized the government for not being able to identify how it might be hurt by Pomerantz’s involvement in the case, in which the DOJ is not a party.”
  • “Munger Tolles is helping represent a contingent of 16 attorneys general — led by New York, California and Texas — that are suing to block the planned merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The challenge has persisted despite the DOJ reaching a settlement clearing the deal in July with the sale of Sprint’s prepaid business and other assets to Dish Network.”