(LAWFUEL) – Washington D.C., December 17, 2008 – Baker & McKenzie has expanded its North American Antitrust & Competition Practice Group with the addition of former FTC Commissioner Mary Azcuenaga as a partner in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Ms. Azcuenaga was a partner at Heller Ehrman, serving for six years as co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust & Trade Regulation Practice Group. Prior to joining Heller Ehrman in 1998, she served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for nearly 14 years.
“We are excited to have Mary join the Firm, as she provides sterling credentials and added depth to our Antitrust & Competition practice,” said David Clanton, Baker & McKenzie Partner and Chair of the Firm’s Global Antitrust & Competition practice. “We are strategically enhancing our Antitrust & Competition practice as M&A and litigation assignments are becoming increasingly international in scope. Mary’s exceptional background and experience will continue to strengthen our Washington, North America and global antitrust practices.”
A highly regarded antitrust practitioner, Ms. Azcuenaga’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, antitrust and intellectual property including antitrust counterclaims in patent litigation and FTC and Department of Justice investigations, with a particular emphasis on the following sectors: pharma/life sciences, information technology infrastructure and applications, industrial equipment and consumer products.
As a Commissioner, she reviewed matters in a wide range of industries. Her practice at the FTC included mergers and acquisitions, the antitrust/intellectual property linkage, advertising, administrative law and the law and economics of regulatory advocacy. She has litigated at the trial and appellate level and has experience in every area of antitrust and consumer protection.
Peter Engstrom, North American Managing Partner, commented: “Mary represents an important addition to the Washington, D.C. office and the global Firm. As a Firm with a unique global compliance practice including extensive worldwide antitrust talent, Mary enhances our ability to assist global clients with critical compliance and transactional capability in this rapidly changing economic climate. She possesses special expertise related to the growing complexity of global mergers as well as the heightened emphasis on global antitrust compliance and enforcement which augments our existing extensive international capability in these areas.”
Ms. Azcuenaga received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1967 and her J.D. in 1973 from the University of Chicago School of Law. Following graduation from law school, she began her career with the FTC where she served in several senior staff positions and ultimately was appointed by two different U.S. Presidents to back-to-back seven-year terms as an FTC Commissioner, spanning from 1984 to 1998.
