Musk engaged in some serious and in my opinion unethical forum shopping. Luckily, the press exposed the fact that this judge owns Tesla stock and the judge just recuse himself
Here is the NPR article where the judge's Tesla stock ownership was exposed
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/09/g-s1-16087/elon-musk-lawsuits-texas-same-judge-hears-them-tesla-stock
Billionaire Elon Musk seems to have found a new favorite federal judge: Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas.
Musk’s social media company X has filed two major lawsuits against groups he sees as antagonists, and O’Connor is presiding over both of them, even though none of the parties is based in Texas.
So far, O’Connor has delivered stunningly pro-Musk decisions, which have gained widespread attention.
What has garnered less attention: O’Connor’s investment in Tesla, between “$15,001 and $50,000” of Tesla stock, according to his most recent publicly available financial disclosure filing......
Like with the Media Matters case, neither X, which is listed in the suits as a Nevada corporation, nor any of the defendants are based in Texas.
But Musk’s legal team justified filing the Media Matters case in Texas by saying the nonprofit “routinely contacts” Texans asking them to subscribe to the group’s content and that, in the second case, the advertisers have a “substantial volume of business” in Texas.
Forum shopping accusations have recently come under scrutiny in the northern district of Texas, in part because the district is distinct.
In most parts of the country, lawsuits are randomly assigned to judges. But in northern Texas, judges take on suits based on which division of the district they are filed in. That can allow parties to almost cherry-pick a judge, according to Ahearn with the Brennan Center for Justice.
Public pressure worked here and this judge has recused himself
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