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WilmerHale Adds Former DOJ Antitrust Leader Ryan Danks to Washington Practice

By  |  January 12, 2026

WilmerHale has hired longtime Justice Department antitrust official Ryan Danks to join its antitrust and competition group in Washington, DC, expanding the firm’s bench of former government enforcers, according to Bloomberg.

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    The firm said Monday that Danks, who spent roughly 20 years at the US Department of Justice, will advise clients on merger strategy and defense, government investigations, civil and criminal antitrust enforcement, compliance matters, and litigation. His arrival comes after he departed the Justice Department in December, per Bloomberg.

    Danks brings experience across both sides of the Antitrust Division’s enforcement work, having held senior roles overseeing civil and criminal matters. Most recently, he served as director of civil enforcement, a role in which he was the highest-ranking career civil enforcer at the division until December 2025, according to Bloomberg. In that position, he supervised more than a dozen lawsuits challenging major mergers, alleged anticompetitive conduct, and monopolization, including nine trials over a three-year period.

    Related: Former FTC Trial Leader Joins WilmerHale’s Antitrust Team

    Earlier, from 2018 to 2022, Danks led the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section. During that time, he directed large-scale domestic cartel and public procurement investigations that resulted in more than $1 billion in criminal fines, penalties, and related civil recoveries, according to Bloomberg.

    His prior government experience also includes serving as counsel to the assistant attorney general for antitrust and leading litigation teams in several high-profile cases, including the government’s challenges involving US Airways and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

    WilmerHale said Danks’ background across both civil and criminal enforcement will allow him to provide clients with a broad perspective on antitrust risk and strategy as scrutiny of corporate conduct and transactions remains intense.

    Source: Bloomberg