Crowell & Moring Adds DOJ, FTC Veterans to Antitrust Practice

Rebecca Valentine is joining the firm as a partner in Washington after working in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, while Ryan Harsch will become senior counsel in New York after serving at the FTC, according to a Sept. 16 announcement from Crowell & Moring distributed by PR Newswire.

The hires give the firm additional lawyers with recent experience inside the federal agencies responsible for reviewing mergers and pursuing antitrust enforcement. Crowell said Valentine and Harsch will advise clients on transactions, investigations, litigation and other competition matters.

Valentine spent about a decade at the Justice Department, most recently working in the Antitrust Division’s Defense, Industrials and Aerospace Section, according to the announcement. Her work included reviewing major mergers and coordinating investigations with state and international enforcement authorities. Although she focused extensively on government contractors in the defense, aerospace and industrial sectors, her matters also included health care and consumer-products companies, the firm said.

Valentine said in the announcement that Crowell’s combination of government-contracts and antitrust capabilities made the firm a logical destination given her sector experience. She said she plans to work with companies confronting questions involving consolidation, collaboration and antitrust exemptions.

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Read more: Veteran Antitrust Litigator Joins Crowell & Moring as Partner in New York

Harsch has been at the FTC since 2015, where his work included merger investigations, non-merger enforcement matters and litigation of merger challenges at the trial and appellate levels, according to Crowell’s announcement. His enforcement experience covered industries including health care, technology platforms, industrial products and consumer goods.

Harsch said he intends to combine his FTC experience with the firm’s existing antitrust capabilities.

Crowell Antitrust and Competition Group Chair Dan Sasse said the additions come as businesses encounter merger reviews involving scrutiny from multiple government authorities and jurisdictions. He said Valentine’s experience involving government contractors and industrial companies complements Harsch’s broader FTC background.

Addie Cliffe, co-chair of Crowell’s Government Contracts Group, said in the announcement that the lawyers’ enforcement backgrounds would bolster the firm’s work for government contractors dealing with transactions and other business decisions that raise competition issues.

The Washington-based firm indicated that the expansion isn’t finished. Crowell said it expects to announce additional growth in its Antitrust and Competition Group in the coming weeks.

Source: PR Newswire