Google taps top lawyer for antitrust appeal

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By Sara Merken

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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Google has hired Donald Verrilli, the U.S. solicitor general during the Barack Obama administration, to appeal a judge's ruling that the tech titan has an unlawful monopoly in online search, the company confirmed.

Verrilli's hire is a key first step in Google's legal fight to undo the ruling, which it has said could pose a threat to its business. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta last year ruled Google holds an unlawful monopoly in online search and related advertising and he is considering proposals to make the tech titan sell off its popular Chrome browser or share data that CEO Sundar Pichai says would allow competitors reverse engineer its search engine.

Verrilli, who is now at Munger Tolles, is known for his work successfully defending Obama's signature domestic healthcare law. He will represent Google in its planned appeal to the D.C. Circuit, where Democratic-appointed judges outnumber Republican judges 9 to 6.

Read more from Jody Godoy and Mike Scarcella.

REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

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sara.merken@thomsonreuters.com

@saramerken

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