Wayland to Serve as Acting Antitrust Chief Pending Confirmation of Baer

This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

With Senate confirmation of William Baer unlikely to happen any time soon, the Department of Justice has announced that Joseph Wayland will serve as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department Antitrust Division after the departure of Sharis A. Pozen at the end of April.

Wayland is the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Enforcement at the Antitrust Division. He joined the Antitrust Division in September 2010 and has worked on a number of high-profile cases. He was the lead trial counsel in the Justice Department’s successful challenge to AT&T Inc.’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA, Inc. He also headed up the trial team that stopped H&R Block, Inc.’s proposed acquisition of 2SS Holdings—the maker of “TaxACT” tax preparation software.

Prior to joining the Antitrust Division, Wayland was in private practice, as a partner with Simpson, Thacher. He joined the firm in 1988.