FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	AT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2008	(202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV	TDD (202) 514-1888

ANTITRUST DIVISION NAMES NEW DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

James J. O'Connell to Serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for International,

Policy and Appellate Matters

WASHINGTON — Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division, today announced that James J. O'Connell Jr. has been appointed to serve as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of International, Policy and Appellate matters for the Division.

"Jim has been an integral part of the Antitrust Division's front office operations and has provided valuable counsel and leadership on a variety of antitrust matters, including individual enforcement actions, appellate and international matters, competition advocacy efforts, and policy initiatives," said Barnett. "I look forward to continuing to work with him as he assumes his new responsibilities."

O'Connell joined the Department's Antitrust Division as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in October 2003. In 2006, he became Deputy Chief of Staff and in 2007 became Chief of Staff.

Prior to his service at the Department, from 1998 to 2003 O'Connell was an Associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Washington, D.C. At Shearman & Sterling, O'Connell was part of the firm's global antitrust group and advised clients on national and international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other business collaborations.

O'Connell received his J.D., with distinction, in 1998 from Emory University School of Law, where he served as the Executive Managing Editor of the Emory Law Journal and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his B.S. in industrial management and economics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1990.

O'Connell is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law and is the Co-Chair of the Section's Federal Civil Enforcement Committee.

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