Authors Mike Scarcella and Tom Hals
-Microsoft hired a law firm that is fighting back against the Trump administration’s crackdown on legal professions, which has led to another prominent company that chose to settle with the White House.
Microsoft has hired Jenner & Block to replace Simpson Thacher in a Delaware court lawsuit for $69 billion to buy Activision Blizzard, court documents show. There is no reason for the document.
Microsoft told Reuters without elaboration that Simpson Thacher continues to represent it on other issues.
Representatives of the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jenner and three other companies are suing President Donald Trump’s executive order that deprives them of security permits, limits their chances of access to government buildings and attempts to cancel federal contracts held by their clients.
Wall Street firm Simpson Thacher is one of nine companies that has provided nearly $1 billion in free legal services to the White House since Trump launched his “weaponization” of the legal system for his legal system.
Companies may have many reasons to switch legal teams, including saving money or avoiding lawyer-client conflicts. Court documents show that Jenner represents Microsoft on behalf of Microsoft.
The New York Times first reported on Microsoft’s lawyer changes.
Jenner’s lawsuit against the Trump administration called the executive order “unconstitutional abuse of power” in an attempt to expel its clients.
It said the order was because it used to hire prosecutors involved in the U.S. special lawyers to investigate retribution for Russia’s contact with Trump’s 2016 presidential election.
A former Microsoft lawyer, dozens of other current and former general consulting firms at major U.S. companies briefly supported Jenner and others in court, said Trump’s orders forced companies to “choose lawyers to avoid presidential retribution rather than based on independent business judgments, experience, skills or expertise.”
Simpson Thacher, on behalf of Microsoft, acquired Activision Blizzard, the maker of the popular video game Call of Duty. The deal, announced in 2022, is the largest ever in the gaming industry.
The Delaware lawsuit claims Activision incorrectly approved the merger, not the final version. Microsoft asked a judge to verify the acquisition in 2024 and rejected a $15 million fee request from attorneys representing shareholders of Activision.
This article was generated from the Automation News Agency feed without the text being modified.
