Apple, the world's most valuable company, faces a pressing deadline this weekend to produce legal documents following a ruling from Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson. On Friday, the judge denied the company's plea for additional time to submit 1.3 million documents related to changes made to the App Store in January. These changes were implemented to comply with a court order issued in 2021.
Court's directive
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversaw the Epic Games lawsuit that prompted these changes, informed Apple's legal team on May 31 that they must provide all documents about the decision-making process behind the new App Store rules. This was a direct response to Epic Games' challenge of these rules. The discovery of documents was referred to Judge Hixson, who set the Monday deadline in August, quoting from the transcript of a previous hearing:
“THE COURT: — so let me make it clear then if you obviously didn't understand. I want all of Apple's documents relative to its decision-making process with respect to the issues in front of the Court. All of them. All. If there is a concern, then be overly broad.
MR. PERRY: Your Honor, may I ask time parameter for the Court's request.
THE COURT: All.
MR. PERRY: Thank you, Your Honor.
THE COURT: So let's say from the day that my decision came out until the present.”
During this hearing, Judge Hixson emphasised the need for comprehensive documentation, urging Apple to provide everything from the court's decision to the present day.
Apple's last-minute request
Judge Hixson instructed Apple to use Epic's proposed search strings to locate the required documents. He also mandated that both companies submit status reports every two weeks until the documents were fully submitted. However, in a report submitted on Thursday, Apple requested more time to review the documents, citing an original estimate that it would only need to produce 650,000 documents, significantly lower than the actual 1.3 million.
Judge Hixson responded to Apple's last-minute request, labelling it as “bad behaviour.” He elaborated on his decision:
“Before yesterday's report, Apple never previewed to Epic Games or the Court that the number of documents it would need to review exceeded its prior estimate by a substantial amount. This information would have been apparent to Apple weeks ago. It is not believable that Apple learnt of this information only in the two weeks following the last status report. This gives rise to several related concerns. First, Apple's status reports weren't any good.”
The judge also suggested that given Apple's considerable resources, the company could feasibly review a large volume of documents over a weekend if it chose to do so. Nonetheless, he recognised that quickly producing these documents would present significant challenges for Apple, particularly concerning allegations that it had not fully complied with Judge Gonzalez Rogers' injunction.
Ultimately, Judge Hixson reaffirmed that it is Apple's responsibility to meet the deadline. He firmly concluded, “It's up to Apple to determine how to meet that deadline, but Monday is indeed the deadline.” With the clock ticking, Apple must scramble to meet the court's demands and provide the necessary documentation.
