David Wales Jr., the former head of Jones Day's 150-lawyer antitrust and competition practice, officially started as a partner Monday in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom's office in Washington, D.C.

Wales joined Jones Day in mid-2009, fresh off serving as acting director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition from 2008 to 2009.

In heading to Skadden, a move first reported by The American Lawyer last month, Wales moves to an antitrust practice group that like the one he chaired at Jones Day has received a coveted Bank 1 rating by Chambers & Partners. Wales said he was drawn to Skadden because of its “amazing” practices, including and apart from its North American antitrust group led by New York-based partner Clifford Aronson. (Steven Sunshine leads the firm's global antitrust practice.)

“I've worked with and across from the lawyers at Skadden and its antitrust practice and have always had the utmost respect for them,” Wales said Monday. “Skadden really has leading global practices across the board. Not only antitrust, but M&A, litigation [and] white collar. And being part of that was just an opportunity that I could not pass up.”

At Jones Day, Wales had worked on antitrust matters on behalf of several high-profile clients, including Deutsche Bank AG, General Electric Co., HeidelbergCement AG, Nasdaq Inc., Newell Brands Inc., Sanofi, The Carlyle Group and The Procter & Gamble Co. In his first day at his new job, Wales said his caseload at Skadden had yet to be determined.

From 2001 to 2003, Wales worked in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division as counsel to the assistant attorney general. In that role, he oversaw the Justice Department's enforcement actions over such industries as defense, energy, finance, software, steel, telecommunications and transportation.

Wales was previously a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Shearman & Sterling. He comes to Skadden's office in the nation's capital almost three months after antitrust partner James Keyte left the firm to join economic consulting shop The Brattle Group Inc.

Jones Day, which did trump Skadden in a recent ranking of large law firm brands, has also watched several partners leave its ranks so far this year. Silicon Valley dealmaker Khoa Do decamped for Morrison & Foerster, the same firm that hired Jones Day corporate partner Daniel Coppel in London, while Katten Muchin Rosenman and Vinson & Elkins also hired former Jones Day partners in the city. DLA Piper also picked up a pair of Jones Day partners in Tokyo.

Earlier this year, Jones Day opened an office in Melbourne, the firm's fourth outpost in Australia, while also welcoming aboard former federal appellate Judge Ann Claire Williams as of counsel in Chicago and former federal prosecutor James Kitchen as of counsel in Pittsburgh.