Amit Mehta, Indian-American Judge Behind Landmark Google Antitrust Ruling

Amit Mehta, an Indian-origin US judge, has handed Google a legal blow, ruling that the tech giant used exclusive agreements to make itself the “default” search engine and ad provider on devices, giving it a major advantage over its rivals. The trial revealed that Google paid billions to companies like Apple to remain the default search engine on their devices.

Who is District Court Judge Amit Mehta?

1. Born in Patan, Gujarat, Amit Mehta moved to the United States with his parents at the age of one. Mr Mehta earned his BA degree in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University in 1993 and later graduated with a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997.

2. After law school, Mr Mehta worked at the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins LLP. He also clerked for the Honourable Susan P. Graber of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr Mehta joined Zuckerman Spaeder LLP in Washington, DC in 1999, where he worked until 2002. He then joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney from 2002 to 2007. In 2007, he returned to Zuckerman Spaeder, focusing on white-collar criminal defence, complex business disputes, and appellate advocacy.

3. During his time at Zuckerman Spaeder, Mr Mehta served on the Board of Directors of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and co-chaired the District of Columbia Bar's Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section Steering Committee. He was also a Director of Facilitating Leadership in Youth, a non-profit organisation dedicated to after-school activities and mentoring for at-risk youth.

4. On December 22, 2014, he was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, making him a federal judge. He was appointed by former US President Barack Obama. 

5. Amit Mehta has represented high-profile clients, including former US Representative Tom Feeney and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former president of the IMF. Mr Mehta helped Mr Strauss-Kahn defeat criminal assault charges in a New York court. As a judge, Mr Mehta has made significant rulings, including cases related to the January 6 Capitol riots. He denied former President Donald Trump's attempt to dismiss civil lawsuits holding him accountable for inciting the riot. Mr Mehta wrote that his decision was "consistent with the purposes behind such immunity", despite the gravity of holding a President accountable.