Dispute over counsel pauses lawyer switch in Reddit case against Perplexity

In the case in which Reddit accuses the AI company Perplexity of illegal data scraping, the fight has now shifted to the question of who may represent Perplexity. The judge has not yet decided whether the law firm Proskauer Rose may take over the role. The case itself is moving forward.

The data scraping case

Reddit filed suit on October 22, 2025, in federal court in New York against Perplexity AI and three data scraping companies: SerpApi, Oxylabs and AWMProxy. Data scraping means using automated tools to pull large amounts of content from websites.

Reddit alleges that the defendants circumvented protective measures and scraped Reddit content through Google search results on an industrial scale. The claim is based on provisions of the US law DMCA. The allegations have not been proven, and Perplexity denies them.

On July 31, 2026, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer largely declined to dismiss the case. Significant parts of Reddit's claims can therefore proceed. The case continues without AWMProxy, which Reddit was unable to locate in order to serve it.

The switch to Proskauer

On September 19, 2026, Perplexity dropped the law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters and proposed Proskauer Rose instead. The judge must assess whether this is permitted, given Proskauer's earlier work for Reddit.

According to Reddit, Proskauer obtained confidential information about Reddit's licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI when the firm represented Reddit in a whistleblower case brought by former employee Jutta Williams. Reddit believes the information is relevant to the case against Perplexity. Reddit also alleges that Proskauer withdrew from the whistleblower case in November 2025 and promised not to represent Perplexity. Reddit also invokes the so-called "hot potato" doctrine, which can prevent a firm from dropping a current client in order to take on an opposing party with conflicting interests.

Proskauer and Perplexity respond

Proskauer disputes that the firm made a binding promise to stay out of the case. The firm describes the whistleblower case as an employment law dispute over retaliation and discrimination that is not substantially related to the data scraping case. According to Proskauer, the lawyers working on the Perplexity case are walled off from confidential information from Reddit. The firm argues that the rules for former clients apply, not the rules for current clients.

Perplexity points to Proskauer's experience with web scraping cases, including work for SerpApi against Google. The company also argues that it should be able to choose its own lawyer.

Reddit and Proskauer filed opposing briefs with the judge in early October 2026. The judge has put off ruling on Keker, Van Nest & Peters' request to withdraw until the question is resolved. The handover of the case is therefore on hold.