Clifford Chance has boosted its U.S. presence with the hire of former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom partner Sharis Pozen in Washington D.C.

She joins the Magic Circle firm as global antitrust co-chair from energy company General Electric, where she was vice-president for global competition law and policy.

Prior to that, she led Skadden's antitrust and competition practice for two years from 2012.

In her new role at CC, Pozen will co-chair the department alongside Brussels-based partner Thomas Vinje.

Pozen was the acting assistant attorney general for antitrust at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for nine months from 2011. While there, she oversaw the DOJ's efforts in blocking telecommunications company AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile.

CC Americas managing partner Evan Cohen said in a statement: "Sharis has extensive government and private practice experience and is one of the few antitrust practitioners who has served in high-level positions at both the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission."

The Magic Circle firm's global managing partner Matthew Layton added: "Our global antitrust capabilities and experience are critical to our clients operating across the world. We are very pleased to be welcoming Sharis as co-chair of the global group."