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.

The Deal (via law.com) reports that:

Jeff Schmidt, the top antitrust enforcer at the Federal Trade Commission, is preparing to leave the agency for a job at an international law firm in the next few months, Washington sources said.

Antitrust lawyers said Schmidt, a political appointee to the FTC, is expected to leave for Linklaters, a global firm founded in England.

Schmidt, however, said he has made no decision about his future.

…

Another FTC senior staffer has confirmed plans to leave the government. Deputy general counsel John Graubert is leaving the agency to join Covington & Burling as a partner in Washington.

At the FTC, Graubert took part in a range of antitrust cases, including mergers.

The article then closes with this juciy tidbit (empahsis added):

Covington’s antitrust practice was home to Assistant Attorney General Tom Barnett before he went to the Department of Justice. Barnett is rumored to be likely to return to private practice.

Congratulations to Ellen M. Jakovic who joined the Washington, DC office of Kirkland & Ellis from White & Case.  According to the press release:

Ms. Jakovic will take a lead role in Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) notification and antitrust clearance matters, a rapidly growing practice area for Kirkland.  In 2006, the Firm estimates it filed HSR notifications in seven percent of all transactions reported to the U.S. government that year. 

Ms. Jakovic joins the firm from the Washington D.C. office of White & Case LLP, where she coordinated that firm’s merger notification practice and advised clients on the antitrust aspects of complex international transactions and joint ventures. Ms. Jakovic has an A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard University (1982) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1985).

Congratulations to Allan Huss who joined Weil Gotshal & Manges from DaimlerChrysler.  According to Weil’s press release:

As Senior Counsel for Antitrust and Trade Regulation for DaimlerChrysler Corporation, he managed the company’s antitrust legal affairs in the NAFTA region and served as principal counsel for DaimlerChrysler’s MOPAR Parts Division. He also served as General Counsel to Alfa Romeo Distributors of North America, a joint venture of Chrysler Corporation and Italy’s Fiat S.p.A. Prior to joining Chrysler Corporation, Huss was an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s Cleveland office, where he focused on antitrust conduct, consumer protection, special statutes and general litigation.

Congratulations to Christine L. White who has joined Crowell & Moring from Bingham McCutchen.  According to the press release:

Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of partner Christine L. White to its New York office as a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Health Care groups. White joins from Bingham McCutchen LLP, where she helped found and co-chair the firm’s Healthcare Industry Group.  White is also a former staff attorney for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she investigated and prosecuted mergers, joint ventures, and conduct cases involving health care entities.  White’s extensive experience in antitrust counseling and litigation will augment the firm’s premier Health Care and Antitrust groups.

Congratulations to Donald C. Klawiter who joined Mayer Brown’s Antitrust & Competition Practice in Washington, D.C. as a partner from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Jennifer M. Driscoll who is making the same move and joining as Counsel.  According to the press release:

Mr. Klawiter is a widely recognized leader in the national and international antitrust bar for his expertise in dealing with criminal antitrust investigations and cases, and related civil litigation.  Mr. Klawiter has defended corporations and executives from six different continents in grand jury investigations and prosecutions, and he has served as international coordinating counsel in many multi-jurisdictional proceedings.  He has substantial antitrust trial experience as a prosecutor and as defense counsel.  From 1975 to 1986, Mr. Klawiter held senior supervisory positions with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Congratulations to both.

Geoffery Oliver, William F. Dolan, Paula W. Render, Michael Sennett and Pamela L. Taylor are joining Jones Day.  Mr. Oliver is the former head of the Anticompetitive Practices Division of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition and will be in Jones Day’s Washington Office.   William F. Dolan, Paula W. Render, Michael Sennett and Pamela L. Taylor are leaving Bell, Boyd & Lloyd and will be in Jones Day’s Chicago office.  More details are in the Jones Day press release.