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agreements that many other companies have tra- Ryan Shores
ditionally used to distribute software,” he added. The lawsuit against Google came almost a year
“Other search engines, including Microsoft’s Bing, to the day since the Justice Department’s second-
compete with us for these agreements. And our ranking official, Jeff Rosen, appointed Shores as a
agreements have passed repeated antitrust re- top aide and senior adviser focused on technology
views.” industries.
A former clerk for the late Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, Shores arrived at the Justice Department
Alex Okuliar
Okuliar stepped down as a partner at Orrick, from the law firm Shearman & Sterling, where his
Herrington & Sutcliffe earlier this year to become a clients included Bank of America and the oil com-
top political appointee in the Justice Department’s pany Equinor.
antitrust division overseeing litigation and merger In a statement announcing the appointment,
investigations. Rosen said Shores’ arrival reflected the “significance
For Okuliar, the move meant a return to the divi- of the department’s review of competitive condi-
sion where, from 2010 to 2012, he had served as a tions among online platforms.”
trial attorney focused on mergers in the technology “His years of high-stakes antitrust and litigation
and financial service sectors. Okuliar later worked expertise will bring invaluable experience to the re-
as an adviser to Maureen Ohlhausen, then a Repub- view as he works closely with our antitrust division,”
lican member of the FTC, before joining Orrick in Rosen said.
2015. On Tuesday, when asked about the remedies the
“Alex has distinguished himself throughout Justice Department was seeking to address Google’s
his career in the government and in private prac- allegedly anticompetitive conduct, Shores said,
tice. We are excited to welcome Alex back to the “Nothing’s off the table.”
division, where his elite antitrust experience will “But the question of remedies is best addressed by
bolster the front office’s impressive ranks and the court,” he said.
help us fulfill our mission to protect American
consumers,” said Makan Delrahim, the assis- Lauren Willard
tant attorney general in charge of the division, Willard left Delrahim’s office to become a coun-
in a statement announcing Okuliar’s arrival in selor to Barr in August 2019, in an indication that
January. the attorney general was taking a firmer hold on the
Delrahim recused himself from the Google inves- tech review. In her time as a Barr aide, Willard has
tigation over potential conflicts of interest stemming helped coordinate the review and keep the attorney
from his past lobbying work for the company dur- general updated on its progress.
ing his time as a partner at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Before joining the Justice Department in 2018,
Schreck. Willard spent almost five years as an associate
Okuliar filled the deputy assistant attorney gen- at Covington & Burling. She clerked for Justice
eral slot formerly held by Donald Kempf, who Anthony Kennedy in 2012, following in the foot-
resigned in 2018 amid an investigation into his steps of her father, who had clerked for Justice
improper use of government-issued computers. In Harry Blackmun before eventually serving as a
a report last year, the Justice Department’s inspec- top Justice Department official in the Reagan ad-
tor general found that Kempf, a former Kirkland ministration.
& Ellis partner and top in-house lawyer at Morgan ¦

Stanley, had accessed hundreds of sexually explicit C. Ryan Barber, based in Washington, covers
images on his government-issued computers and government affairs and regulatory compliance.
then made false statements when questioned about Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @
his conduct. cryanbarber

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