Scott Hammond, the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, will join Gibson Dunn as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office.
Following a 25-year tenure in the Antitrust Division, Hammond will join Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office, where he will focus on criminal antitrust and international cartel matters.
Hammond helped craft the Division’s leniency program that rewards voluntary disclosure of cartel activity in order to avoid criminal conviction.
He rejoins former colleague and Gibson Dunn partner Gary Spratling, who also served as Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement when Hammond served as Senior Counsel.
Hammond also joins Ali Nikpay, who recently joined Gibson Dunn after serving at the UK’s competition authority, the Office of Fair Trading, as the Senior Director for Cartels and Criminal Enforcement.
Hammond said that he “wanted to find a home where I could hit the ground running by utilizing my experience expanding the Antitrust Division’s international cartel program.”
“Gibson Dunn is the perfect fit for me,” Hammond said. “I will be joining an incredibly talented team with a world-renowned antitrust practice that is highly respected in the enforcement community. I am looking forward to working with my new colleagues in assisting clients to navigate the rising tide of cartel enforcement around the world.”
As the former U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement, Hammond supervised the Division’s domestic and international criminal investigations and prosecutions, including reviewing requests for amnesty under the Corporate and Individual Leniency Programs.
As DAAG, he led the Division’s enforcement efforts in a number of industries, including LCD panels, air transportation, auto parts, real estate foreclosure auctions, municipal bonds, construction, chemicals and coastal freight.
Hammond also worked to increase international cooperation in cartel enforcement with other jurisdictions, including the European Union, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Hammond graduated with honors in 1988 from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
“Scott has been the preeminent antitrust enforcer in the U.S. for many years,” said Ken Doran, chairman and managing partner of Gibson Dunn. “He is universally respected by leading competition authorities and practitioners alike, and as such, he will be well-positioned to work with our clients on global investigations and compliance matters. His deep experience in working on policy and enforcement issues with international antitrust authorities will be an invaluable asset to our clients around the world.”
“Scott is a long-standing leader of global cartel investigations and prosecutions, and his addition will ensure that Gibson Dunn will continue to be the ‘go-to’ firm for cartel defense work,” said Spratling, co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group. “He first established a model enforcement program that is being replicated around the world, and then was a leading force in facilitating international cooperation among antitrust authorities globally.”