Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo has hired Joseph Miller from Crowell & Moring to co-chair its antitrust practice.

Miller, a former Justice Department official who was on the steering committee of Crowell's antitrust practice group and member of its health care group, joined Mintz on Monday as a partner in its health law practice in Washington, D.C.

In an interview, Miller declined to name his clients but said they would be moving with him to Mintz. Miller advises health care and pharmaceutical industry clients on antitrust matters such as the risks associated with mergers, joint ventures, risk-sharing agreements and payer-provider contracting.

Before practicing at Crowell, Miller spent five and a half years as general counsel to a trade association for the health plan industry. Earlier in this career, he spent more than 12 years at the Justice Department, where he served as the assistant chief of litigation in the antitrust division, focusing on health care and consumer products investigations.

Now as co-leader of Mintz's antitrust practice, Miller said he sees a need for more attorneys with an interest in health care as well as antitrust work.

"I'm looking for associates who really want to focus on the [health care and antitrust] space as opposed to just antitrust litigation," he said. "We want someone interested in the health care industry to work with us as we continue to grow the practice."

Miller said he had been recruited by Mintz beginning last summer, and that he was drawn to the firm for its strong domestic presence and its culture.

"Mintz has a great reputation and it also struck me as highly collaborative, innovative and a place that values diversity," he said. "Those things are important to me as well as to clients."

In a statement, Mintz's managing partner, Bob Bodian, praised Miller's expertise at the intersection of antitrust and health care. "His experience both in private practice and with the DOJ are a tremendous asset to our firm and of benefit to our clients," he said.

Miller said his experience working at the Justice Department and at a trade association informs his practice today.

"In the antitrust division of the Department of Justice, I focused on the prosecution of civil antitrust cases in the civil health care sector, and I learned to understand how government prioritizes cases." And as the general counsel for a health industry trade association, "I worked with health insurers immediately after the Affordable Care Act passed and the industry was shaped in a fundamental way," he said.

"This helped me understand what was going on in the health care industry in a way I wouldn't have if I had stayed in government," he added.