Former FTC commissioner Terrell McSweeny speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on March 25, 2015. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Terrell McSweeny has joined Covington & Burling as partner in Washington, D.C., after leaving the Federal Trade Commission, where she served as a commissioner until April.

McSweeny, who began her legal career as an associate at O'Melveny & Myers in 2005, will join the antitrust and competition law and data privacy and cybersecurity practice groups at Covington.

She said after 13 years in government, she wanted to return to private practice and determined that Covington—where several of her former Justice Department colleagues also work—was the right fit.

Before her FTC appointment in 2014, McSweeny held senior positions in the DOJ, White House and Senate, particularly for former Vice President Joe Biden. She was counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Sen. Biden, working on issues such as judicial nominations, women's rights issues, and immigration and civil rights issues. She also worked as Biden's deputy chief of staff and policy director in the Senate, during her time there from 2005 to 2008.

In 2009 McSweeny joined the Obama White House as deputy assistant to the president and domestic policy adviser to the vice president. She then served in the DOJ's Antitrust Division as chief counsel for competition policy from 2012 until joining the FTC.

“Having served both at the FTC and in the Antitrust Division, Terrell has an exceptionally broad base of experience to draw upon in helping clients understand and manage the antitrust enforcement, privacy, and data security issues,” said Deborah Garza, Covington's antitrust practice co-chair, in a statement. “She also has developed relationships with and [has] an understanding of other enforcement agencies around the world.”

Covington has been a busy hub for government comings and goings in recent weeks. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, formerly senior of counsel at the firm, rejoined the U.S. Senate following his appointment to replace the late Arizona Sen. John McCain. Just as Kyl exited, Covington added the FBI's principal deputy general counsel, Trisha Anderson, to its ranks in Washington. McSweeny cited Covington's reputation and experience working with lawyers leaving government for the private sector as key factors in her move.