A federal judge has postponed an antitrust trial for several national retailers suing Visa and Mastercard over card swipe fees to next year, prompted by concerns that the prior October trial date would spill into the holiday season.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein moved the previously scheduled Oct. 20 jury trial for several large merchants to April 20, 2026, after he raised a question during a recent pretrial status conference about how long the trial might last, potentially conflicting with the holidays.
In subsequent court filings, lawyers for the merchants asserted that Visa and Mastercard had seized on the judge’s question as the basis of their effort to push the trial into 2026.