Renata Hesse named acting chief of DOJ's Antitrust Division

Attorney General Eric Holder has named Renata Hesse as the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

Hesse, a veteran of major technology cases, took over the post from Joseph Wayland, who left the government on Friday.

Hesse joined the Justice Department in 1997 and was the lead lawyer during the remedy phase of the antitrust case against Microsoft. She also oversaw the government's challenge of First Data Corp.’s acquisition of Concord EFS.   

She left DOJ in 2006 for private practice, but returned to the government last year when Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski tapped her to oversee the agency's review of AT&T's $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile. Opposition from both the Justice Department and the FCC forced the companies to abandon the deal late last year.

She then returned to the Justice Department as a deputy assistant attorney general, leading the department's efforts on intellectual property issues.

“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 in a statement.

President Obama has chosen William Baer to head the division, but the Senate has yet to vote on the nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Baer's nomination to the floor in September. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the panel's ranking member, said he opposed Baer but couldn't state his reasons publicly.

Hesse received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

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