SAN FRANCISCO—The Walt Disney Co. is bringing on two veteran trial lawyers to fight an antitrust suit that accuses major California animation studios of conspiring to suppress wages for artists and engineers.

John Keker and Robert Van Nest of Keker & Van Nest entered appearances Monday for Disney and subsidiaries Pixar, Lucasfilm and ImageMovers Digital. They join attorneys from Covington & Burling on the studios' defense team.

Plaintiffs attorneys with Susman Godfrey, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll accuse the animation studios of agreeing not to recruit each other's employees and of meeting over dinner and drinks to illegally set caps on industry salaries.