On Tuesday, the federal court overseeing the US Justice Department’s antitrust case against Alphabet’s Google requested further evidence before determining whether to censure the search and advertising firm for alleged attorney-client privilege abuse.

The department sought the penalties in response to Google’s “Communicate with Care” initiative, which required workers to include a lawyer in a majority of their communications. The government said that at times, shielding communications that should not have been safeguarded was a “game.”

Judge Amit Mehta said last week that he was unsure if he has the authority to penalise a firm for conduct committed prior to the filing of the complaint. Mehta urged the government and Google on Tuesday to name any incidents that bolstered their arguments for or against the penalties.

Additionally, Mehta directed Google to generate a random sample of 210 emails from the 21,000 for evaluation.

“Once the court has completed its examination, it will consider whether an order forcing disclosure of the whole collection of contested emails or some other course of action is appropriate,” Mehta said in his ruling.

The Justice Department sued Google in 2020, alleging that the company violated antitrust rules in its management of its search business. The trial has been scheduled for September 2023.

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