When a lawsuit involves an antitrust conspiracy with nearly $1 billion on the line, when the case has been covered by media including ABC News, Time Magazine and the Associated Press, when it involves the epitome of a sexy topic—cheerleaders for god’s sake—that’s not usually when a federal judge will urge counsel to let junior associates have a crack at oral argument.
In retrospect, a notice earlier this month by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco that the court would “particularly welcome any lawyer with four or fewer years of experience to argue the upcoming motion to dismiss,” looks an awful lot like a hint from the bench: This case is not going to be a close call.
