- U.S. & Americas
- Lateral moves
- Disputes, Regulatory
Debevoise & Plimpton has hired George "Chip" Nierlich, the acting director of antitrust litigation at the Department of Justice, into its antitrust litigation practice in Washington, according to The American Lawyer. He left the department the previous Friday after six years. The firm pointed to his experience in both private practice and government as a main reason for the hire.
Before joining the DOJ, Nierlich was a partner at Gibson Dunn. That gave him the public-private background Debevoise cited (The American Lawyer). The Capitol Forum reported before the move that the division's acting head of litigation was preparing to leave the agency (The Capitol Forum).
Debevoise added Kirkland's Rebekah Scherr to its D.C. antitrust practice in April 2026
The hire continues a build-out Debevoise started earlier in the year. The firm added Rebekah T. Scherr from Kirkland & Ellis as an antitrust and M&A partner focused on HSR merger-control compliance. The hire was announced 23 April 2026 (Debevoise & Plimpton). Presiding Partner Peter Furci tied the move to rising HSR complexity and more active enforcement, saying clients "need clear, practical guidance on tight timelines" (same source).
Scherr handles merger filings, while Nierlich brings litigation experience. Together, they cover both transactional clearance work and courtroom conduct work in the Washington office.
DOJ antitrust departures followed Gail Slater's exit and the Live Nation settlement
Nierlich's move is one of several recent departures from the Antitrust Division. Departures accelerated after Gail Slater resigned as division head in February. Staff frustration also grew after a surprise settlement in the government's Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopolization case (Bloomberg Law).
David Dahlquist, the acting director of civil antitrust litigation who led the Live Nation case and the 2025 Google search remedies trial, announced his resignation on 8 April 2026 during a Google hearing. Senior trial lawyers Bonny Sweeney, Lorraine Van Kirk and Julia Tarver Wood left in the same period (same source).
At least six attorneys who left the division joined the antitrust practices at O'Melveny & Myers, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Winston & Strawn (PYMNTS). Catherine Dick, the division's former litigation director who worked on Apple, Google, Live Nation and RealPage, joined Sher Tremonte in Washington. Mark Hamer, a former deputy to Slater, returned to Baker McKenzie (PYMNTS).
America First enforcement favors structural divestitures and labor, tech and agriculture cases
The Trump administration's "America First" posture favors structural divestitures and expedited reviews for non-problematic deals while remaining willing to litigate. Enforcement is shifting toward labor markets, tech content moderation and agriculture (Cooley).
That mix shapes which positions firms want to fill. As enforcement weights toward conduct and litigation, firm demand likely tilts toward senior litigation counsel over junior merger roles. A litigator who served as the division's acting director of antitrust litigation fits that profile.
Debevoise now has the division's former acting director of antitrust litigation and an HSR merger-control partner who joined from Kirkland in the same Washington office. The hires came in the months after departures from the division's senior litigation ranks accelerated. O'Melveny, Wilson Sonsini, Winston & Strawn, Baker McKenzie, Sher Tremonte and Debevoise have all added conduct and litigation experience as federal antitrust enforcement continues in court.
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