Walmart Inc. has named an in-house antitrust veteran to fill its newly created chief antitrust counsel position, about a month after StarKist Co. agreed to a $20.5 million settlement with the big box retailer to resolve antitrust claims stemming from a price-fixing conspiracy.

Suzanne Wachsstock will join Walmart on March 4 from American Express Co., where she built the company's global antitrust and trade association compliance program during her nearly 12-year tenure as vice president and antitrust counsel there, according to her LinkedIn profile and an email from a Walmart spokesperson. In her new role, Wachsstock, who will be based in Walmart's Washington, D.C., office, will lead all of its antitrust matters globally, the email said, adding that, “as Walmart's business continues to evolve, we are always evaluating where we can acquire talent to support the business.”

In a notice distributed to the company's global governance team, Karen Roberts, Walmart's executive vice president and general counsel, said: “Suzanne's prior experience leading global antitrust counseling and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, investigations, and strategy, makes her a perfect fit for this role.”

During her time at American Express, Wachsstock also was a member of its general counsel organization's digital leadership team, focusing on legal issues related to digital payments, data and artificial intelligence, Roberts' note said.

Wachsstock could not be reached for comment about her new position but said in a statement that she is excited to “help drive antitrust policy and strategy” as Walmart transforms “to better serve customers in a digital world.”

“I look forward to learning Walmart's diverse, multifaceted business while diving in to issues that are on the cutting edge of competition law,” she said.

A 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School, Wachsstock started her legal career as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell for nearly three years, LinkedIn said. She then was an associate at Finn Dixon & Herling for a little more than a year and a partner at Wiggin and Dana in Stamford, Connecticut, for nine years before joining American Express in October 2007, it added.

A leading expert on antitrust law, Wachsstock currently and has previously held various leadership roles within the antitrust law section of the American Bar Association.