Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom withdrew on Friday from representing the social media video app TikTok as the company seeks to shield sensitive information in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta.
A Skadden team entered the case on Aug. 15, filing a motion to prevent in-house lawyers for Meta, which owns the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, from viewing highly confidential information TikTok produces pursuant to a subpoena in the FTC case. The filing noted that TikTok’s attorneys were negotiating with Meta to narrow the scope of the subpoena.
Meta has identified TikTok as a major competitor as it seeks to fend off the FTC’s allegations.
The TikTok team included Skadden partners Steven Sunshine, David Wales and Julia York. Sunshine, the head of the firm’s global antitrust and competition group, is ranked among the top antitrust lawyers in the country. He has represented Apple in discovery disputes in the U.S. Justice Department’s monopoly case against Google.
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