Alston & Bird continues to add to its antitrust capabilities with the arrival of former senior U.S. Justice Department official Leslie C. Overton as an antitrust partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
Overton most recently served as deputy assistant attorney general in charge of civil enforcement in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, a position she held from 2011 to 2015. She also served as counsel to the assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division from 2002 to 2004.
“Leslie joins us at an exciting time as we continue to build out our capabilities to meet client demand in the most high-profile antitrust market in the world,” said Teresa Bonder, chair of Alston & Bird’s Antitrust Practice. “With attention focused on the presidential election and what the outcome might mean to antitrust enforcement and litigation, Leslie’s high-ranking DOJ experience and senior leadership across two different administrations will be of significant benefit to clients as they seek to better understand and keep pace with government policies and priorities and the uncertainties that lie ahead.”
As a member of the assistant attorney general’s senior staff and the Antitrust Division's leadership team, Overton advised on enforcement, operations and policy matters. In addition to supervising more than half the agency’s merger challenges in fiscal years 2012 to 2014, she oversaw its health care antitrust policy work and served as liaison in working with competition enforcement agencies in other countries and in cross-border organizations.
In her earlier tour at the DOJ, Overton played a key role in the landmark hearings and report on antitrust enforcement in the health care industry issued by the DOJ and U.S. Federal Trade Commission. She also advised on merger and civil non-merger investigations, litigation, settlement negotiations and policy. Her portfolio included health care, telecommunications and other regulated industries, as well as consumer products.
Before her DOJ experience, Overton was a partner for five years at Jones Day in the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Law and Health Care practices, where she represented Fortune 500 clients before the DOJ and FTC, as well as state antitrust enforcement agencies, in merger, civil non-merger and criminal antitrust investigations.
“Leslie’s service as the only non-career lawyer in the Antitrust Division’s front office in both Democratic and Republican administrations is a huge plus for our clients concerned about the impact of a new administration on antitrust enforcement,” said Dennis Garris, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C., office. “She is incredibly well regarded within the D.C. legal community and broader antitrust circles nationally and internationally, and she adds a significant complement to our office, which is growing not only in the antitrust space, but also in international trade, health care and other federal regulatory law, as well as legislative and public policy.”
Overton is the latest addition to Alston & Bird’s D.C. antitrust team, which last year added partners Adam Biegel, who relocated from the firm’s Atlanta office to lead the D.C. antitrust practice, and John Snyder, who previously served as counsel to the DOJ’s assistant attorney general overseeing the Antitrust Division.
Since the start of the year, the firm has made several prominent appointments to the D.C. office. In addition to Overton, the office added partners Jackie Baratian, a former senior counsel in the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Tom Feddo, a former official in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, both of whom arrived in February. The office also added counsel Ted Schroeder, a former senior aide to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, in January.
Overton most recently served as deputy assistant attorney general in charge of civil enforcement in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, a position she held from 2011 to 2015. She also served as counsel to the assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division from 2002 to 2004.
“Leslie joins us at an exciting time as we continue to build out our capabilities to meet client demand in the most high-profile antitrust market in the world,” said Teresa Bonder, chair of Alston & Bird’s Antitrust Practice. “With attention focused on the presidential election and what the outcome might mean to antitrust enforcement and litigation, Leslie’s high-ranking DOJ experience and senior leadership across two different administrations will be of significant benefit to clients as they seek to better understand and keep pace with government policies and priorities and the uncertainties that lie ahead.”
As a member of the assistant attorney general’s senior staff and the Antitrust Division's leadership team, Overton advised on enforcement, operations and policy matters. In addition to supervising more than half the agency’s merger challenges in fiscal years 2012 to 2014, she oversaw its health care antitrust policy work and served as liaison in working with competition enforcement agencies in other countries and in cross-border organizations.
In her earlier tour at the DOJ, Overton played a key role in the landmark hearings and report on antitrust enforcement in the health care industry issued by the DOJ and U.S. Federal Trade Commission. She also advised on merger and civil non-merger investigations, litigation, settlement negotiations and policy. Her portfolio included health care, telecommunications and other regulated industries, as well as consumer products.
Before her DOJ experience, Overton was a partner for five years at Jones Day in the firm’s Antitrust and Competition Law and Health Care practices, where she represented Fortune 500 clients before the DOJ and FTC, as well as state antitrust enforcement agencies, in merger, civil non-merger and criminal antitrust investigations.
“Leslie’s service as the only non-career lawyer in the Antitrust Division’s front office in both Democratic and Republican administrations is a huge plus for our clients concerned about the impact of a new administration on antitrust enforcement,” said Dennis Garris, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Washington, D.C., office. “She is incredibly well regarded within the D.C. legal community and broader antitrust circles nationally and internationally, and she adds a significant complement to our office, which is growing not only in the antitrust space, but also in international trade, health care and other federal regulatory law, as well as legislative and public policy.”
Overton is the latest addition to Alston & Bird’s D.C. antitrust team, which last year added partners Adam Biegel, who relocated from the firm’s Atlanta office to lead the D.C. antitrust practice, and John Snyder, who previously served as counsel to the DOJ’s assistant attorney general overseeing the Antitrust Division.
Since the start of the year, the firm has made several prominent appointments to the D.C. office. In addition to Overton, the office added partners Jackie Baratian, a former senior counsel in the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Tom Feddo, a former official in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, both of whom arrived in February. The office also added counsel Ted Schroeder, a former senior aide to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, in January.