The Wall Street Journal reports that Christine Varney (currently a partner at Hogan & Hartson, and a former member of the FTC), has been picked as Assistant Attorney General, to head the DoJ Antitrust Division.

WASHINGTON — President Obama is expected to name a new antitrust enforcement team shortly, signaling stiffer merger-review standards and more cases against dominant companies that use market power to raise prices. The White House is expected to nominate Christine Varney, a former Federal Trade Commission member and Internet-law expert, as Justice Department antitrust chief, people briefed on the move said. Jon Leibowitz, a current FTC member, is the leading candidate for commission chairman, but the decision isn’t final, these people said.

Michael R. Baye, who served as the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics for the past year and a half, is leaving the FTC on December 31 to return to Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.  Pauline Ippolito will take over as director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics.  According to the press release:

The director serves as the agency’s chief economist, supervises economic analysis at the Commission, and advises the Commission on economic policy matters.

“I am grateful to Mike for his exceptional work at the FTC, his excellent service, and his outstanding achievements. Mike ensured that the FTC made investments in building knowledge that will serve this agency well for decades to come. We have benefitted greatly from his expertise and his insight, his leadership in much of our policy work, and his invaluable guidance in our litigation matters,” Chairman Kovacic said. “We are most fortunate that Pauline Ippolito will take over as Acting Director of the Bureau.”

…

Ippolito, a nationally recognized scholar, has held a variety of management and staff positions while serving the FTC with distinction for 30 years. She received the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, the highest award available to a government executive, for her contributions to improving consumer protection policy for the nation.

Ippolito’s research documents the effects of consumer policy choices on business behavior and consumer welfare. Her work on major policy initiatives has led to improvements in policies for the agency and the nation, as demonstrated by her work on health claims in food advertising and labeling. Her research on resale price maintenance led to changes in antitrust policy, which ultimately has been reflected in Supreme Court jurisprudence. Ippolito has a PhD from Northwestern University.

Congratulations to Jay L. Himes who has joined Labaton Sucharow.  According to the press release:

Labaton Sucharow LLP announced today that Jay L. Himes, former Chief of the Antitrust Bureau for the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York, has joined the Firm as a Partner and Co-Chair of its Antitrust Practice Group. During his seven-year plus tenure as Chief of the Antitrust Bureau, Mr. Himes led significant and high-profile antitrust actions, including In re Buspirone Litigation ($100 million settlement), In re DRAM Litigation ($90 million partial settlement; case on-going), In re Cardizem Litigation ($80 million settlement), and In re Compact Disc Litigation ($67 million settlement).

Yesterday, the White House announced that “[t]he President intends to designate Deborah Garza, of Illinois, to be Acting Assistant Attorney General (Antitrust Division) at the Department of Justice.”

Jeff Schmidt, the current Director of the Bureau of Competition, will leave the FTC. He will be replaced by David P. Wales as Acting Director.

The FTC’s press release states:

Schmidt joined the Commission in February 2005 as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition. As Director, he supervised the Bureau’s merger and non-merger enforcement divisions, played a key role in developing antitrust policy, secured important changes in the Bureau’s infrastructure and merger review processes, and managed Bureau resources during a time when the FTC’s federal court case docket was greatly expanded.

In the merger area, Schmidt directed enforcement efforts against several proposed transactions, including district court challenges in the Whole Foods/Wild Oats, Inova/Prince William Hospital, and Equitable/Dominion matters. He also helped lead the FTC in gaining favorable enforcement results in Allegan/Inamed, Fresenius/Renal Care Group, Boston Scientific/Guidant, Linde/BOC, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain/Owens Corning, Schering Plough/AkzoNobel, Johnson & Johnson/Pfizer, and Carlyle Partners/INEOS Group, Ltd.

In the non-merger area, Schmidt was responsible for supervising challenges in several matters, including Cephalon and Warner-Chilcott in the pharmaceutical industry and MiRealSource and RealComp in the real estate industry.

After leaving the Commission, Schmidt will join the Linklaters law firm as a partner in their New York office.

Here is the short version:

[B]e brief, be clear, be simple, be vivid, be commonsensical, avoid legalisms, and do not be afraid to spoon-feed us—we will not bite your hand.

Congratulations to Stacey Anne Mahoney who joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher from Constantine Cannon.  Ms. Mahoney is the current Chair of the Antitrust Section of the New York State Bar Association.  According to the press release:

Mahoney focuses her practice on antitrust litigation and counseling. She regularly represents clients before the Federal Trade Commission and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and counsels clients on competitor collaborations, distribution practices and pricing policies. Her antitrust experience covers a wide variety of industries, including retail electronics sales, standard setting, glass manufacturing, automobile sales and repair, lightning protection and ready-to-eat cereals.

Congratulations to Marc G. Schildkraut who returned to Howrey from Heller Ehrman.  According to the press release:

Howrey LLP announced today that Marc G. Schildkraut has rejoined its global Antitrust Practice in Washington, D.C.  Schildkraut had been with Howrey from 1993 to 2005, prior to which he spent 17 years at the Federal Trade Commission in various roles, including Assistant Director for the Bureau of Competition.  Until recently, he led the Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice at Heller Ehrman.

Congratulations to H. Stephen Harris, Jr. has joined Jones Day from Alston & Bird.  According to the press release:

He has been widely recognized as a leading U.S. and international antitrust litigator, has considerable experience in Asia competition law and regimes, and currently serves as the International Officer of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law. With that background he will help coordinate the interface of the Firm’s global competition law practice with the Firm’s Asia competition law practices.

Mr. Harris comes to Jones Day from the Atlanta Office of Alston & Bird, where he chaired that firm’s antitrust practice. He has handled numerous complex civil and criminal antitrust cases, including class actions and multidistrict litigation, in federal courts throughout the United States.

Congratulations to John S. Gibson has joined Winston & Strawn’s Los Angeles office from Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.  According to the press release:

Gibson’s practice focuses on the representation of Fortune 500 companies in complex civil litigation, including antitrust and unfair competition litigation, post-trial litigation, class actions, commercial purchase disputes, lender-liability defense litigation and real estate litigation in arbitration and state and federal courts throughout the U.S.

…

Gibson, a former summer league teammate of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, is also a youth basketball coach for the Amateur Athletic Union.

Congratulations to Ann Rappleye who has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Planning at Wyeth.  As a result, Ann DeVos at Wyeth writes that they are looking for a Chief Antitrust Counsel.  The “primary objective” of the job:

will be to serve as chief legal advisor and counselor on a broad range of domestic and international antitrust issues in the pharmaceutical, consumer health and animal health divisions.  This position will report to the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel and will supervise the Corporate Counsel, Antitrust.

The Responsibilities:

Handle antitrust aspects of transactional work relating to mergers and acquisitions and licensing, including antitrust analysis, filing of pre-merger notification reports in the U.S. and outside the U.S., managing relations with federal, state and other antitrust agencies.  Provide counseling to the business units on antitrust issues, including contracting, pricing, and marketing programs.  Manage the Company’s antitrust litigation, including supervision of outside counsel, representation of the Company in the litigation process and counseling of employee participants in litigation.  Provide antitrust compliance counseling and training to both U.S. and ex-U.S. employees.  Interact with Senior Management on significant antitrust matters.

The qualifications:

JD with topnotch academic qualifications;

Member of at least one state bar;

10+ years of antitrust experience in a law firm or in-house environment;

Strong verbal and written communication skills;

Demonstrated exceptional judgment and critical thinking;

Strong interpersonal, collaborative and leadership skills; and,

Pharmaceutical/health care experience beneficial.

You can apply online or contact Ann at devosa(at)wyeth.com. If you take the position, please remember the beer rule.

Congratulations to James “Hart” Holden who has joined Paul Hastings from Clifford Chance.  According to Paul Hastings:

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP (Paul Hastings), a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that James “Hart” Holden, most recently co-chair of the antitrust practice at Crowe & Dunlevy PC, has joined the firm’s Corporate Department as Of Counsel, resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

Mr. Holden’s practice focuses on antitrust issues related to transactional matters involving numerous industries including healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, energy, industrial equipment, chemicals, retail consumer goods, trade associations and intellectual property. He has successfully handled hundreds of Hart Scott-Rodino matters, including multi-billion dollar transactions before the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.

Mr. Holden was previously with Clifford Chance, where he was head of United States regulatory antitrust practice. He also served at the Federal Trade Commission for 15 years before leaving as the former deputy assistant director for the Competition Bureau in 2004.

Bill Kovacic will be the new Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Jay N. Fastow and Denise Kosineski Plunkett who joined Dickstein Shapiro from Weil Gotshal & Manges.

Congratulations to Andrew G. Berg who has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal from King & Spalding.  According to the press release:

Well-known antitrust attorney Andrew G. Berg has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office and will head the firm’s antitrust/competition practice, the national law firm announced today.  Berg comes to Sonnenschein from King & Spalding LLP.