Apple is seeking the removal of Michael Bromwich, the court-appointed lawyer tasked with ensuring that Apple complies with e-book price fixing antitrust rulings.
An attorney for Apple asked U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on Tuesday to disqualify Bromwich on the grounds that he has shown a personal bias against the company.
Apple’s relationship with Bromwich has been turbulent from the very start, with the company objecting to the “unprecedented” legal bill of $138,432 which Bromwich invoiced for his team’s first two weeks of work. Not only were these fees expensive, Apple argued — they also gave Bromwich incentive to run “as broad and intrusive investigation as possible.”
Last week Bromwich then filed a legal complaint against Apple: claiming that he had been largely cut off from accessing top Apple executives, and that he was experiencing extreme delays when it comes to receiving requested information.
“In my 20 years of doing oversight work, I have never before had the entity over which I was exercising oversight unilaterally dictate who could be interviewed, even in those instances in which I have dealt with very sensitive matter, including highly classified matters of national security,” Bromwich wrote in the filing.
In Apple’s Tuesday letter to Judge Cote this complaint is described as a “wholly inappropriate declaration” and evidence of personal bias against Apple.
The case is listed as U.S. v Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 12-2826.
Source: Reuters
