US: Government savings plan results in closed DOJ antitrust offices, shut-out lawyers
A more than $100 million cost-savings plan, announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in 2011, was supposed to consolidate DOJ antitrust staff into fewer offices and mean more efficiency in larger antitrust investigations. The result today, however, is antitrust lawyers out of the division altogether, many having even left the government. The cost-savings plan shut four of seven regional antitrust offices down, though AG Holder reassured that staff could and should relocate to the offices that stayed open. The media in Philadelphia, however, where one office was shut down, have found 14 of the 15 antitrust lawyers to be out of the division, 10 of which have left the government – Antonia Hill is the only remaining lawyer from Philadelphia, now working in New York. Former lawyers of the Philadelphia office – which opened in 1948 and was responsible for bringing companies like General Electric, Westinghouse, and GE Capital to justice – have generally agreed the decision to close the office was a governmental mistake, and one that resulted in a loss of talent for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division.
Full Content: Philly.com
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Redfin Settles $9.2M Commission Inflation Lawsuits
May 7, 2024 by
CPI
DOJ Supports Colorado’s Efforts to Block Kroger-Albertsons Merger
May 7, 2024 by
CPI
Japan Considers Regulation of AI Developers
May 7, 2024 by
CPI
European Commission Extends Decision Deadline for Ita-Lufthansa Merger
May 7, 2024 by
CPI
UK, US and Australia Sanction Senior Leader of LockBit Cybercrime Gang
May 7, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI