The Department of Justice is planning to hire an external lawyer to help in its antitrust case against AT&T Inc's proposed $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA, according to media reports.
The lead litigator in the case will remain an in-house lawyer, Joseph Wayland, who is a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
But the department is seeking to bring in Glenn Pomerantz, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, to bolster its legal team, Bloomberg said.
The government has not ruled out bringing other outside litigators on board to match the legal firepower that will be deployed by AT&T and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom AG, according to the WSJ.
Reuters could not immediately reach DOJ and Pomerantz for comment.