As Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney is about to step down as head of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, her successor has been named. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sharis Arnold Pozen will become Acting Assistant Attorney General upon Varney’s departure, according to an August 4 Department of Justice announcement.
“Sharis is a highly experienced antitrust enforcer and I am confident that she will continue to lead the Antitrust Division in its mission to vigorously enforce the antitrust laws,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Sharis has been actively engaged in all significant antitrust matters before the division, and her appointment will ensure that the decision-making on pending antitrust matters is seamless.”
Pozen has played a lead role in a number of civil merger and non-meger enforcement matters since joining the Antitrust Division. Pozen was also involved in the federal antitrust agencies’ update of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the Antitrust Division’s revision of its Merger Remedy Guidelines.
Prior to coming to the Antitrust Division, Pozen was a partner in Hogan & Hartson’s (now Hogan Lovells) Antitrust, Competition and Consumer Protection Group. She also worked for five years at the Federal Trade Commission as an attorney advisor, as assistant to the Bureau of Competition Director, and as a staff attorney.
Varney announced her departure from the Antitrust Division, effective as of August 5, on July 6. She was reportedly joining the law firm of Cravath, Swain & Moore LLP.
