A team of WilmerHale lawyers—led by co-lead trial counsel Hallie B. Levin—won a resounding victory for clients T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom in a landmark antitrust trial in which attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia sought to enjoin the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

US District Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York, in his February 11, 2020 decision unambiguously rejected the arguments of the state attorneys general and fully credited the testimony and evidence presented by T-Mobile’s legal team.

Levin and the WilmerHale team developed the crucial strategy—unusual for antitrust litigation—that clearly resonated with the Court. That strategy focused on the credibility of T-Mobile’s executives and argued, through the extensive use of T-Mobile’s normal course of business documents, that the plaintiffs’ theories were inconsistent with T-Mobile’s longstanding “Un-carrier” business model.   

Ms. Levin then presented much of the case at trial, questioning key witnesses, including two of the most critical: T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legere, and its President and incoming CEO, Mike Sievert. The Court concluded that the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint is not likely to substantially lessen competition and will more likely benefit consumers through more competitive pricing, improved wireless speeds and network coverage.

In its opinion, the Court relied heavily on the testimony of Legere and Sievert, finding that the trial evidence “credibly presented by T-Mobile executives” reflected “a company [New T-Mobile] reinforced with a massive infusion of spectrum, capacity, capital, and other resources, and chomping to take on its new market peers and rivals in head-on competition.”  

In a T-Mobile statement, Mr. Legere said: “Today was a huge victory for this merger … and now we are FINALLY able to focus on the last steps to get this merger done! We want to thank the Court for its thorough review of the facts we presented in our case. We’ve said it all along: the New T-Mobile will be a supercharged Un-carrier that is great for consumers and great for competition. The broad and deep 5G network that only our combined companies will be able to bring to life is going to change wireless …”