DOJ Antitrust Litigator Ewalt Joins Freshfields in Washington

Former Justice Department antitrust litigator Andrew Ewalt has joined Freshfields’ Antitrust, Competition and Trade and Dispute Resolution practices in the firm’s Washington office, Freshfields announced Dec. 10.

Ewalt, who served for more than a decade with the DOJ’s antitrust division—most recently as counsel to the director of litigation in the division—is one of several former DOJ attorneys who’ve joined the firm this year.

“I’m looking forward to working closely with my former DOJ colleague, Eric Mahr, on further building the antitrust litigation practice and enhancing our offering to clients,” Ewalt said in a statement.

Mahr served as the director of litigation for the Antitrust Division from 2015 to 2017, joining Freshfields’ Washington office in 2018.

In addition to Mahr, Freshfields picked up former DOJ attorney Eric B. Bruce from Kobre & Kim to serve as a partner in Freshfields’ Washington office earlier this month. Bruce joined the firm after nine years at the helm of Kobre & Kim’s white collar practice, and after spending more than a decade at the Justice Department.

Daniel Braun joined the firm’s white-collar litigation and global investigations practices in 2016 after spending more than 15 years with the DOJ, including as deputy chief for litigation in the fraud section of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

It’s anticipated that the Justice Department will soon see a further exodus of attorneys due to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ departure. President Donald Trump announced Dec. 7 that he picked Kirkland & Ellis attorney and former AG William Barr to succeed Sessions.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a London-based international law firm with more than 2,800 lawyers in 28 offices across the globe.