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Epic Games has hired Supreme Court lawyer Nicole Saharsky of Mayer Brown for its case against Apple. The court will hear the case on January 11, 2027. At the center of the fight are Apple's App Store payment rules.
Epic filed its latest paper on November 13. It asks the court to keep the ruling that found Apple in civil contempt.
Saharsky has argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court. She will join Epic's current legal team.
Apple has chosen Gregory Garre of Latham & Watkins. He is a former US Solicitor General. The case is called Apple Inc. v. Epic Games Inc. Both sides will make their case in January.
The tech giant must file its final reply by December 14, 2026. The Supreme Court agreed to take Apple's appeal in June 2026.
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Epic sued Apple in 2020. It aimed to modify Apple's policies regarding in-app payment processing and app distribution. Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store because Epic introduced its own payment method.
In 2021, a US court ordered Apple to allow developers to include links to alternative payment methods. Apple complied with the order. However, it introduced some new requirements, including a fee of up to 27% for transactions made via such links. Epic believed that these fees violated the court's order.
In 2025, a federal judge held Apple in civil contempt. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, although it modified one aspect of the fees' ruling. Currently, Apple claims that the initial order did not prevent it from imposing a fee on external purchases.
This verdict could lead to a restructuring of payment procedures for the App Store. It could alter the procedure in which developers can refer users somewhere else.
Many app developers make use of the App Store to market to their customers. The change in fees could greatly impact their revenue stream. Both parties have top lawyers lined up. The next move is that of Apple, in about a month's time.