Federal appeals court orders Google antitrust lawsuit moved from Texas to California, rebuking judge’s venue decision

A federal appeals court ordered that an antitrust lawsuit against Google be transferred from the Eastern District of Texas to the Northern District of California, ruling that U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap improperly weighted the speed of Texas litigation over established legal standards governing venue transfers. The Fifth Circuit's Judge James Ho, joined by Judge Catharina Haynes, found that trial timeline comparisons cannot override broader considerations of convenience and fairness when deciding whether to transfer a case. The ruling reflects growing scrutiny of forum shopping in U.S. antitrust and technology cases, with the Fifth Circuit signaling that plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions cannot retain high-profile cases simply by pointing to faster dockets.