The Justice Department's trial to block AT&T's $85 billion merger with Time Warner kicked off this past week in Washington, D.C., and it's expected to be the most influential antitrust showdown in decades.

It's also an unusual fight for the Justice Department because it challenges a so-called vertical merger—a merger between companies that operate in the same industry but aren't direct competitors—for the first time in decades.

In this Legal Speak episode, Law.com editor Jenna Greene and D.C. reporter Cogan Schneier make sense of what's been happening in court. Plus, Jenna asks antitrust lawyer David Balto, a former policy director for the FTC's Bureau of Competition, to explain the legal strategies on each side and why the case matters beyond Big Media.

Listen to the podcast below or find us on Apple Podcasts and Google Play.