According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Van Nest is in talks for the potential antitrust lawsuit regarding Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery’s potential merger. Van Nest is a trial lawyer who has handled cases for tech companies across Silicon Valley. The lawsuit is separate from the action filed in May by a group of consumers.

The decision on the legal team has not been finalized, but California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office reportedly met with Van Nest this past Friday. Lawyers for Paramount include antitrust veteran Jeffrey Kessler and Makan Delrahim, Trump’s former assistant attorney general for antitrust.

California and several other states are currently discussing legal action regarding the merger. According to sources, the lawsuit is expected to be filed within the month. The coalition of states mainly consists of Democratic attorney generals but includes Republicans who joined the motion to halt Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tenga. New York, Colorado, Washington, Tennessee, Connecticut, and Oregon are involved.

Markets believed to be affected by the merger include theatrical distribution, streaming, and news. Claims may change as the lawsuit progresses through the courts.

A source told The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re looking at what’s happening with CBS right now.” And that the merger is “going to impact that more with CNN.”

Groups such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department, and the European Union could also potentially bring legal action in addition to states. U.K. regulators recently announced a probe into the potential consequences of the merger. The investigation has until August 7th to enter “phase two,” which consists of a deeper review of the merger’s effect on competition.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount released a statement regarding potential legal action: “We continue to engage constructively with regulators, including State Attorneys General, and are always prepared to address legitimate, clearly articulated antitrust concerns. However, we do not believe any aspect of this transaction raises such concerns. To the contrary, this is a pro-competitive transaction that will create a stronger competitor with the scale, flexibility, and resources needed to compete more effectively for audiences, premium content, and creative talent.”

Bonta’s office stated, “the Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation, and we do not have any updates to share at this time,” via The Hollywood Reporter.

Van Nest is a partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters. He was the lead attorney for Google in a lawsuit in which Oracle alleged billions of dollars in damages. When the case eventually reached the Supreme Court, Van Nest successfully justified copying of 11,000 lines of code under fair use. Currently, he is on OpenAI’s team in its lawsuit over the illegal training of AI models on copyrighted works. He also represents the company being sued by Broadcom for copyright infringement on video game patents.

His antitrust background includes representing Qualcomm in an existential lawsuit. He successfully argued for a federal judge’s verdict to be dismissed. The case alleged that Qualcomm was price-gouging phone makers with its monopoly over chips. He notably penned an op-ed in the New York Times calling on attorneys to stand up to what he believes is unconstitutional reprisal against attorneys who have opposed President Donald Trump.

California has recently expanded its budget for antitrust litigation by 14.3 million, citing, “The lack of federal oversight in this area leaves California individuals and businesses vulnerable to predatory business practices that threaten affordability and consumer rights,” via The Hollywood Reporter.