See also:United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (U.S. v. Apple, Inc., 1:12-cv-02826-DLC)

On January 21, 2014, Judge Lohier granted a temporary stay as to the work performed by Michael Bromwich, the court-appointed monitor in the Apple e-book antitrust case. The stay was to remain in effect until a three-judge panel of theSecond Circuit was available to decide whether Bromwich should be removed as monitor. In the underlying case, JudgeDenise Cote found in July 2013 that Apple conspired with online publishers to fix the prices of e-books. She appointed Bromwich to oversee and monitor the company’s compliance with federal antitrust laws in October 2013. In an earlier motion filed by Apple, the company claimed that Cote’s appointment of a monitor in a civil antitrust case was unprecedented. Attorneys for Apple contested Bromwich’s hourly fee of $1,100, alleging that because of the “extremely broad powers” Cote conferred upon him, he was able to overreach in his investigations such that they bordered on interfering with the company’s daily operations. Cote denied Apple’s request to remove Bromwich as monitor just days before Lohier issued the temporary stay. In his ruling, Lohier noted that Apple’s request for Bromwich’s permanent ouster would be heard “as soon as possible” by an appellate panel. Lohier's order isavailable here.^[6][7]

Update

On February 10, 2014, a three-judge panel of theSecond Circuit composed of JudgeGerard Lynch and Senior JudgesPierre Leval andGuido Calabresi rejected Judge Lohier's stay and restored Michael Bromwich's ability to perform his duties as Apple's e-book antitrust monitor, with the understanding that Apple may pursue a further appeal to remove Bromwich from his position. In the order, the judicial panel noted that according to the government, Judge Cote's initial order was to be "interpreted narrowly." As a result, Lynch, Leval, and Calabresi agreed that as antitrust monitor, Bromwich was only to "assess the appropriateness of the compliance programs adopted by Apple and the means used to communicate those those programs to its personnel." The Second Circuit panel went on to limit Bromwich's authority, empowering him to "demand only documents relevant to his authorized responsibility . . . and to interview Apple directors, officers and employees only on subjects relevant to that responsibility."^[8][9][10]

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• Appointed by Barack Obama
• Confirmed 2010
• Federal Article III judges
• Federal judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
• Federal judiciary nominee, March 2010
• United States of America
• Noteworthy case
• Federal judge, Second Circuit
• Confirmed December 2010