Former senior DOJ antitrust lawyer John Elias joins HSF Kramer

Leading global law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer announced today that John Elias, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Antitrust Division, has joined the firm's Washington, DC office as an antitrust partner. Elias brings nearly two decades of wide-ranging experience and will focus on antitrust counseling, antitrust advice and merger filings in transactional matters, investigations, and litigation.

Elias served with the federal government for 18 years, most recently as a  DOJ executive leader and supervisor of the Antitrust Division’s appellate, international, and policy work. Earlier in his career, he held roles with the Division’s Transportation, Energy and Agriculture Section and the Criminal Section, where he obtained the then-largest-ever criminal penalty—US$195 million—for a domestic antitrust cartel in U.S. v. Sandoz.

At HSF Kramer, Elias will advise businesses and individuals on the full spectrum of antitrust challenges from government enforcers and private litigants.

Elias' hire follows the addition of Burr Eckstut, who joined the firm in September to head the US Technology Transactions practice from HSF Kramer’s office in New York, US.

Elias joins a growing global team of high-profile and renowned antitrust practitioners.

Earlier this year in Sydney, HSF Kramer welcomed back partner Liza Carver, who re-joined the firm having spent over three years as a Commissioner at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission — the independent statutory authority with responsibility for competition and consumer law enforcement and merger control in Australia.

In Paris, the firm added partner Laurence Bary, further bolstering the firm’s top-tier global antitrust practice.

Elias earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his B.A., cum laude from Yale University.