The filing said state attorneys general were “kept in the dark and materially excluded from settlement discussions” while they prepared for trial. On March 5, states were “notified at 4 p.m. about the nearly final terms of the settlement” and were given one day to decide whether to accept or reject, the filing said.
States will have to play a key role in testing
Before the announcement of the agreement, America was playing the main role in this matter. In addition to seeking a mistrial, the states asked the court to stay the proceedings to allow them time to “fully prepare to play a key role in the litigation and explore a settlement.”
“The states have had no opportunity to obtain and reallocate the resources necessary to hear the case on their own or to meaningfully discuss and attempt to negotiate the terms of a settlement with the defendants,” the filing said. “Furthermore, despite the primary role played by DOJ before the jury, the United States (and several additional individual plaintiff states) will now disappear from the trial… the substantial prejudice caused by this settlement and DOJ’s sudden exit after playing a key role during the first week of trial necessitates a mistrial.”
New York took the lead in the states’ filings today. New York Attorney General Letitia James said today, “The recently announced settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and will benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers. We cannot agree.” “My Attorney General colleagues and I have a strong case against Live Nation, and we will continue our lawsuit to protect consumers and restore fair competition in the live entertainment industry.”
Most of the states supporting the filing have Democratic attorneys general. But the group is bipartisan, with Republican attorneys general from Kansas, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.
Other states involved in the lawsuit have either decided to join the US agreement or have not yet taken a position. The filing said the states that have agreed to the settlement are Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota. The other states involved in the lawsuit are Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia.
This article was updated with a statement from Live Nation.
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