Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced today that, in a rare lateral move, the Firm has elected to its partnership Renata Hesse, who served until January 20, 2017 as Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. Ms. Hesse will be based in the Firm's Washington, D.C. office.

“Renata brings to S&C deep and highly relevant government experience, further strengthening our world-class antitrust practice,” said Joseph C. Shenker, Chair of Sullivan & Cromwell. “She will be a tremendous colleague, and her global stature and impressive track record in the competition area will enhance the value we continuously bring to our clients worldwide.”

“I'm delighted to add my experience and relationships to the S&C team, to help further develop the Firm's antitrust and merger clearance capabilities and add value to its clients,” said Ms. Hesse.

Ms. Hesse joins Sullivan & Cromwell following a distinguished career in government, having served twice as Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of that division for four years. In these roles, she frequently represented the Antitrust Division in its interactions with other parts of the DOJ and the Executive Branch. Highlights of her work during this period included involvement in the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable and U.S. Airways/American Airlines mergers, oversight of the Antitrust Division's criminal program, key initiatives related to the licensing and enforcement of standards-essential patents, and much more.

Ms. Hesse also previously served as Senior Counsel for Transactions to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, where she advised Chairman Genachowski on transactions pending FCC approval. Prior to that, she was a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she focused on antitrust issues with a particular emphasis on the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property matters in high-tech industries.

Internationally, Ms. Hesse has been involved at the highest levels and worked extensively with antitrust and competition law enforcement agencies across Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America, and oversaw the Antitrust Division's issuance of guidelines for investigations involving multiple jurisdictions. This experience will be especially beneficial for S&C clients engaged in the complex, cross-border matters on which the Firm regularly acts.

She has been a regular speaker at legal and antitrust forums, including the Association of General Counsel, the Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium, the ABA Antitrust Section and the Chatham House Conference on Globalization of Competition Policy.

Ms. Hesse is a graduate of Wellesley College (B.A., 1986) and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (J.D., 1990).