The judge set to hear the lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice to block the proposed merger between American Airlines and US Airways is no stranger to some of the nation’s largest antitrust lawsuits. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who will hear the case, also handled the lawsuit filed by the DOJ, along with 18 states, against Microsoft in one of the largest antitrust cases in US history. Microsoft was accused of abusing its monopoly; Judge Kollar-Kotelly took over the case in 2001 following another judge’s ruling against Microsoft and monitored the case until 2011. Cases are assigned to judges at random, but antitrust lawyers told media Wednesday she will likely be a good fit for the case and weigh both sides equally. The DOJ filed a lawsuit against the airline merger last Tuesday, with six states and Washington, D.C. also included as plaintiffs.
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