The Justice Department on Friday said Antitrust Division attorney Renata Hesse has replaced Joseph Wayland as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. Wayland has left the department and may return to private practice.
Renata Hesse
Hesse was a Justice Department attorney from 1997 to 2006, serving in the Merger Task Force and then the Transportation, Energy and Agriculture Section. From 2002 to 2006, she was chief of Networks and Technology in the Antitrust Division. She lead the remedy phase of the Antitrust Division’s monopoly case against Microsoft Corp.
In remarks released by the department, Attorney General Eric Holder was quoted as praising Hesse’s experience.
“Renata is a veteran antitrust lawyer who will lead the Antitrust Division during this time of transition on its mission to vigorously and effectively enforce the antitrust laws and protect American consumers from anticompetitive behavior,” Holder said.
Hesse previously served as senior counsel to the chairman for transactions at the Federal Communications Commission and was also a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, a Justice Department spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
Hesse returned to the department this year in March, serving as a special adviser for civil enforcement and then as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division.
William J. Baer, a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP, has been nominated to head the Antitrust Division but has yet to be confirmed for the role.
