SAN FRANCISCO—Two formidable figures in the Northern District of California bar went toe-to-toe Thursday morning as U.S. District Judge William Alsup and former U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag sparred over whether Haag’s law firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, should be sanctioned for revealing confidential financial figures during a hearing in Oracle v. Google.
Google has asked Alsup to hold Orrick and partner Annette Hurst in contempt for remarks she made in open court during a Jan. 14 discovery hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu. Hurst let slip that Google earned $31 billion in revenues from Android and paid $1 billion in 2012 to keep its search bar on the iPhone—information that was protected under a gag order in the case. At Thursday’s hearing, Alsup indicated that he was much more concerned about the latter of the two disclosures.
