DOJ hires top lawyer for possible Google case-report

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has hired its former antitrust chief, Sandy Litvack, Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N) former vice chairman, for a possible court challenge to Google Inc's (GOOG.O) proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo (YHOO.O), according to a Dow Jones newswire story.

According to the story, which cited lawyers close to the review, attorneys have been deposing witnesses and subpoenaing documents to support a challenge to the deal.

But the report said it was not immediately clear if a challenge would target the Google-Yahoo deal alone or take on broader aspects of Google's conduct in the growing online-advertising business.

Litvack, who was the Department's antitrust chief under U.S. President Jimmy Carter, has been asked to examine the evidence gathered so far in the federal review of Google's pending deal with Yahoo, Dow Jones said.

Yahoo struck an agreement in June with Google, the world's dominant supplier of Web search services, as it sought to shore up its advertising business and ward off pressure to merge with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

Representatives for Google and Yahoo were not immediately available to comment.