Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is continuing to grow its US antitrust capabilities, with the hire of a long-serving US Department of Justice (DoJ) official who was the counsellor to another recent hire, Eric Mahr, former director of litigation in the DoJ's antitrust division.

Andrew Ewalt joins Freshfields' Washington DC office as a partner, after more than a decade at the DoJ, spanning three presidential administrations. He had the unusual distinction of litigating both civil and criminal antitrust cases in a division where most lawyers specialise in one or the other.

Ewalt said he had not been looking to move to private practice, but the prospect of a change emerged from staying in touch with Mahr, who joined Freshfields in February after departing the DoJ in November.

"He would share some of his experiences," Ewalt said. "It piqued my interest."

After Mahr made a series of introductions, Ewalt found that he was eager to come on board.

"I really got a feel for this culture that has been created at the firm where lawyers from all over the world work creatively across borders to provide quality service for clients," he explained. 

Mahr said he was eager to add a cross-border component to a practice that until this point has been focused on domestic matters. As counsellor to the director of litigation, he helped manage the stream of court matters passing through the department.

He also was involved in some of the more significant civil antitrust matters handled by the DoJ in recent years, including the Bayer-Monsanto and Ticketmaster-Live Nation mergers, and the case concerning Carolinas HealthCare System's anti-steering contract clauses. In addition to trying cases, he also served as a special assistant US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Ewalt started his career as an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the same firm where Mahr was a partner for more than 15 years before joining the DoJ.

Earlier this month, the firm also landed longtime Kobre & Kim white-collar defender Eric Bruce as a partner in Washington DC.

"Freshfields' US offering encompasses an exceptional bench of lawyers that continues to grow, with recent additions including Eric Bruce earlier this month, and now Andy to our market-leading antitrust and litigation practices. Andy has an excellent reputation in the market and it's my pleasure to welcome him to the firm," Peter Lyons, Freshfields' US regional managing partner, said in a statement.