R. Hewitt Pate Biography

R. Hewitt Pate

R. Hewitt Pate is the head of the Hunton & Williams competition practice group. His practice includes all aspects of competition law counseling and litigation including antitrust, business torts and intellectual property.

Mr. Pate served from 2003 to 2005 as Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, for the United States Department of Justice, the Senate confirmed official in charge of all aspects of DOJ antitrust enforcement. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for regulatory matters, with responsibility for airlines, telecommunication, and other fields.

Mr. Pate's tenure at the DOJ Antitrust Division saw significant emphasis on the Division's cartel enforcement activities, and passage of significant cartel enforcement litigation. He argued on behalf of the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Empagran case, and led the Government's efforts to obtain Supreme Court review and clarification of monopolization law in Trinko. Significant merger matters during Mr. Pate's tenure included United/U.S. Airways, DirecTV/Echostar, First Data/Concord, Oracle/Peoplesoft, and others.

Mr. Pate emphasized international cooperation, led the first U.S. competition law delegation to China since the 1980's, and served as Chairman of the OECD Competition Committee Working Party 3 on international antitrust cooperation.

Mr. Pate received his J.D. from the University of Virginia and his B.A. from the University of North Carolina. He was a judicial law clerk to Justices Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 1999, he was the Ewald Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, teaching Unfair Competition. Mr. Pate is a member of the Virginia and D.C. Bars and a member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference.