Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, LAW FIRM NEWS: Antitrust firms add new members, attorneys receive recognition, (Aug 15, 2025)

By WK Editorial Staff

Former Antitrust Division DAAG Michael Kades heads to private practice. Another Antitrust Division veteran now chair of ABA Section of Antitrust Law.

Antitrust attorneys moved to new firms. The merger of two international firms, one of which has a sizeable antitrust team, has been completed. Antitrust attorneys received recognition from industry groups.

New hires.Michael Kades has joined the Nachawati Law Group, a nationwide plaintiff’s firm based in Dallas, where he will head the firm’s new antitrust practice. Kades joins the firm from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he previously served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General focused on civil enforcement. His work at the Antitrust Division included supervising investigations and litigation against large technology companies, airline mergers, and financial services cases. Previously, Kades spent 20 years as an attorney at the FTC.

Kirkland & Ellis announced that antitrust lawyer Maria Raptis has joined the firm as a partner. Raptis joins the firm from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she was a partner.

In other news, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP shared that Leo Kitchen will join the firm in London as a partner in the Litigation Department. Kitchen focuses his practice on, among other things, competition disputes, including competition-related collective proceedings and related damages claims, the firm stated.

Mergers. International law firms McDermott Will & Emery, which has a sizeable antitrust team, and Schulte Roth & Zabel announced the completion of their merger, officially launching McDermott Will & Schulte. According to the announcement, the new firm has over 1,750 attorneys across more than 20 offices worldwide.

Recognition. Sullivan & Cromwell celebrated the appointment of partner Renata Hesse, co-head of the firm’s Antitrust Group, as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section. Hesse focuses her practice on antitrust counseling, cartels, and merger clearance. Before joining Sullivan & Cromwell, Hesse had a distinguished career in government, including leading the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice twice as Acting Assistant Attorney General.

Cravath announced that seven of its attorneys were recognized by Benchmark Litigation on its “40 & Under List.” Those named include Michael J. Zaken, who has a broad litigation practice, with a particular focus on antitrust, bankruptcy, class action defense, commercial disputes and intellectual property, as well as antitrust advisory and other advisory work. Also recognized were Lauren M. Rosenberg, David H. Korn, Lauren R. Kennedy, Sharonmoyee Goswami, and Helam Gebremariam, whose practices also focus on a broad range of litigation, including antitrust.

WilmerHale celebrated the recognition of two of its counsels, including antitrust attorney John O’Toole, in the 2025 edition of Lawdragon 500 X—The Next Generation.

Meanwhile, Hausfeld announced that The Lexology Index Competition 2026 recognized 21 of the firm’s attorneys globally as Globel Elite Thought Leaders, Thought Leaders, or Future Leaders in the global Competition and/or Competition Plaintiff categories. Those named were UK-based attorneys Lesley Hannah, Anthony Maton, Tom Bolster, Nicola Boyle, Tim Brown, Andrew Bullion, Scott Campbell, Daniel Hunt, and Luke Streatfeild; US-based attorneys Megan E. Jones, Melinda R. Coolidge, Michael D. Hausfeld, Christopher L. Lebsock, Michael P. Lehmann, Scott Martin, James J. Pizzirusso, Brian A. Ratner, and Hilary K. Scherrer; and Germany-based attorneys Alex Petrasincu, Ann-Christin Richter, and René Galle.

Twenty-eight Jones Day partners were recognized as elite thought leaders or otherwise recommended in this year’s Lexology Index for Competition & Antitrust. Those distinguished were Koren W. Wong-Ervin, Craig Waldman, Alexandre Verheyden, Aimee DeFilippo, Michael Knight, Philipp Werner, Eileen Lagathu, Yizhe Zhangv, Michael Gleason, Peter Wang, Kaarli H. Eichhorn, Mario Todino, Laurent De Muyter, Charlotte Breuvart, Bruce McDonald, Brian Grube, Hiromitsu Miyakawa, John Majoras, Johannes Zöttl, Eric Barbier de La Serre, Serge Clerckx, Yvan Desmedt, Carsten Gromotke, Philippe Laconte, Jim Reeder, Marta Delgado Echevarra, Jürgen Beninca, and Jeff LeVee.

Attorneys: Michael Kades (Nachawati Law Group). Maria Raptis (Kirland & Ellis LLP). (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP). Leo Kitchen (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP). (McDermott Will & Schulte). Renata Hesse (Sullivan & Cromwell LLP). Michael J. Zaken, Lauren M. Rosenberg, David H. Korn, Lauren R. Kennedy, Sharonmoyee Goswami, and Helam Gebremariam (Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP). John O’Toole (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP). Lesley Hannah, Anthony Maton, Tom Bolster, Nicola Boyle, Tim Brown, Andrew Bullion, Scott Campbell, Daniel Hunt, Luke Streatfeild, Megan E. Jones, Melinda R. Coolidge, Michael D. Hausfeld, Christopher L. Lebsock, Michael P. Lehmann, Scott Martin, James J. Pizzirusso, Brian A. Ratner, Hilary K. Scherrer, Alex Petrasincu, Ann-Christin Richter, and René Galle (Hausfeld LLP). Koren W. Wong-Ervin, Craig Waldman, Alexandre Verheyden, Aimee DeFilippo, Michael Knight, Philipp Werner, Eileen Lagathu, Yizhe Zhangv, Michael Gleason, Peter Wang, Kaarli H. Eichhorn, Mario Todino, Laurent De Muyter, Charlotte Breuvart, Bruce McDonald, Brian Grube, Hiromitsu Miyakawa, John Majoras, Johannes Zöttl, Eric Barbier de La Serre, Serge Clerckx, Yvan Desmedt, Carsten Gromotke, Philippe Laconte, Jim Reeder, Marta Delgado Echevarra, Jürgen Beninca, and Jeff LeVee (Jones Day).

Companies: American Bar Assn.

News: Antitrust IndustryNewsTrends AntitrustDivisionNews FederalTradeCommissionNews