Partner Lin Kahn and of counsel Robert Huie of Jones Day (courtesy photos)

Jones Day added two former government lawyers in California—Federal Trade Commission attorney Lin Kahn as an antitrust partner in San Francisco, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Huie as of counsel in the investigations and white-collar defense practice in San Diego.

Both have ties to the firm. Before joining the FTC, Kahn was an associate with Jones Day in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Huie worked for Karen Hewitt, the partner-in-charge of Jones Day's California region, when she was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California.

Hewitt said Kahn and Huie are "outstanding" lawyers who will contribute to the firm's busy antitrust and white-collar practices.

Kahn, who joined Jones Day on June 18, said that because of her prior time at the firm, she knew of its "seamless collaboration," and she was impressed by the talent within the antitrust practice. She said her experience at the FTC gives her insight on mergers in industries, including technology, consumer products, pharmaceuticals and health care. Kahn had been trial counsel at the FTC since 2015.

Huie said Hewitt hired him when she was U.S. attorney, but she continued to mentor him even after she joined Jones Day in 2010. He said Hewitt reached out to him earlier this year about a move to private practice, and he decided the timing was right.

The former prosecutor, who will join the firm on Monday, said he's excited to work with the team of investigations and white-collar defense lawyers in California because he's seen them as adversaries in criminal cases.

"You don't really know a law firm until you've had them as an opponent, and it says an awful lot about their effectiveness," he said.

Huie was a federal prosecutor for 12 years and most recently served as deputy chief of the office's major frauds and public corruption section, where he was counsel of record in more than 700 criminal cases, including the "Fat Leonard" bribery prosecution, a high-profile U.S. Navy corruption case.

Huie also represented the U.S. Justice Department when he worked as a diplomat and legal adviser at U.S. embassies in Algiers, Algeria, and in the Western Balkans, and he hopes to do some international work while at Jones Day.

Hewitt said Huie is the ninth former federal prosecutor working at Jones Day in California.

The Jones Day California leader notes that while many firms in the region are downsizing, "we are actually growing."