Microsoft swaps law firms in shareholder case, hiring Trump adversary
KUALA LUMPUR: Microsoft is switching the law firm representing it in a shareholder case, replacing one that settled with the Trump administration to avoid a punishing executive order with one that is fighting the White House.
Court documents showed Microsoft has hired Jenner & Block to replace Simpson Thacher in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit over its US$69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The filings did not give a reason.
Microsoft, without elaborating, said in a statement to Reuters that Simpson Thacher continues to represent it on other matters. Companies can have many reasons for switching legal teams, including to save money or avoid attorney-client conflicts.
Simpson Thacher did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jenner & Block, which has done prior work for Microsoft, declined to comment. Jenner and three other firms are suing President Donald Trump's administration over his executive orders that stripped their security clearances, restricted their access to government buildings and sought to cancel federal contracts held by their clients.
Wall Street firm Simpson Thacher is among nine firms that have collectively pledged nearly US$1 billion in free legal services to the White House since Trump launched his pressure campaign on firms that he accused of "weaponising" the legal system against him.
The New York Times first reported Microsoft's change in counsel.
Jenner's lawsuit against the Trump administration called the executive order an "unconstitutional abuse of power" that sought to drive away its clients.
It said the order was retribution for its past employment of a prosecutor involved in the US special counsel probe into Russian contacts with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
A former top lawyer at Microsoft and dozens of other current and former general counsels at major US companies said in an April 11 court brief backing Jenner and other firms that Trump's orders force companies "to choose counsel to avoid the President's retribution rather than based on independent business judgment, experience, skill, or expertise."
Simpson Thacher represented Microsoft in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, maker of the popular video game "Call of Duty." The deal, announced in 2022, was the largest ever in the gaming industry.
The lawsuit in Delaware claimed Activision improperly approved a draft merger agreement and not the final version. Microsoft in 2024 asked a judge to validate the acquisition and deny a US$15 million fee request from lawyers who represented an Activision shareholder.
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