Judge Richard Leon of the D.C. U.S. District Court has set Dec. 7 as the date for initial status conference for the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit to block AT&T Inc.'s proposed takeover of Time Warner Inc., Variety reported Nov. 29.
In a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, AT&T asked the judge to start the trial on or about Feb. 20, 2018, while the DOJ proposed the trial to start May 7, 2018.
AT&T argued that the government should have set a prompt trial date in its challenge to the merger, as part of standard procedures. It added that its proposed date for the trial will not prejudice the government, since the latter has been investigating and preparing for the case for a year.
"Further delay is unwarranted and unfair to the Defendants, their shareholders, and their customers," AT&T said in the motion.
AT&T and Time Warner recently agreed to extend the termination date of their proposed merger to April 22, 2018.
