Post-trial briefs likely serve as the penultimate act before Judge Florence Pan rules in the antitrust case.

Lawyers for Penguin Random House and the Department of Justice have made public their post-trial briefs in the lawsuit brought by DOJ to block PRH’s acquisition of its Big Five rival Simon & Schuster.

These briefs likely serve as the penultimate act before Judge Florence Pan rules in the case later this year, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.

“PRH attorneys reiterated their claims that the government focuses on a flawed, non-existent market segment—that is, advances paid for ‘anticipated top-selling books’ over $250,000—and thus, its case fails as a matter of law,” Albanese says.

At the same time, DOJ attorneys declared they had convincingly shown the court that the proposed acquisition is anti-competitive and should be blocked.

“And now, we wait,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“Judge Pan is expected to rule swiftly. We’ve heard this could mean in November, but I fully expect a ruling earlier, perhaps in the early days of October.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Velocity of Content” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.