By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) – A federal choose on Friday set a fast-paced schedule within the U.S. Justice Division’s antitrust lawsuit difficult Google LLC’s digital promoting know-how practices, shifting the case alongside extra shortly than both facet had proposed.

U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose John Anderson in Alexandria, Virginia, after a short listening to issued an order setting Jan. 18, 2024, because the date when Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc’s Google and Justice Division attorneys should disclose factual proof and consultants experiences. Attorneys for either side had sought not less than 5 extra months to organize for trial.

The quicker tempo of the litigation may put extra stress on either side, however notably on Google in constructing its protection, based mostly on what the corporate in a court docket submitting referred to as an “imbalance” within the proceedings.

Google argued that it wanted extra time as a result of, not like the Justice Division, it didn’t take pleasure in an investigation “with the federal authorities’s subpoena energy.”

Google advised the choose that the case “presents complicated and intensely consequential points, the decision of which can have an effect on companies throughout america.”

The choose’s order didn’t set a trial begin.

A Justice Division spokesperson and a consultant from Google had no touch upon Friday.

The Justice Division and eight states filed the case in January, looking for to drive Google to promote its advert supervisor suite, claiming that the corporate unlawfully curbed competitors over promoting know-how. The case is one among two Justice Division antitrust actions in opposition to Google.

The opposite, filed in October 2020 and difficult Google’s search enterprise, is ready for a trial in Washington, D.C., federal court docket in September.

Google has denied the claims in each instances.

The Japanese District of Virginia is colloquially referred to as a “rocket docket” for its tempo of proceedings.

U.S. District Choose Leonie Brinkema, assigned to the digital promoting case, will preside on the January pretrial convention.