According to The Wall Street Journal, Michael Bromwich, a lawyer appointed by the court as Apple’s monitor in the e-book pricing case, has filed papers in a U.S. District Court accusing the Cupertino company of being obstructive and uncooperative in his investigation. The layer has described repeated alleged efforts by Apple to block interviews between him and senior executives, notes the source.
Michael Bromwich, the lawyer picked as Apple’s monitor
Mr. Bromwich has submitted an 11-page document accompanied by hundreds of pages of emails, accusing Apple of being uncooperative and failing to turn over relevant documents. The Justice Department, which reviewed Mr. Bromwich’s proposal for the monitoring position, has said in court papers that halting Mr. Bromwich’s work would go against the “public’s interest in preventing further antitrust violations by Apple.”
“On Monday, Mr. Bromwich said he routinely met with top management at the three organizations he previously monitored and had “never before had a request for a meeting or interview in a monitoring assignment rejected or even deferred.”
“This is far less access than I have ever received during a comparable period of time in the three other monitorships I have conducted,” Mr. Bromwich said.
According to the emails filed by Mr. Bromwich, his relationship with Apple was rocky from the start. After Mr. Bromwich sent Kyle Andeer, Apple’s director of competition law, an email detailing his rates and the contours of his oversight, the wide gaps between the two party’s expectations came into focus.”
Mr. Bromwich is currently said to charge a fee of $1,100 per hour, while his legal team’s rate is $1,025.
