Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has added an antitrust partner in Washington DC from Shearman & Sterling. 

Ryan Shores has joined Cleary’s premier US merger control practice following his second stint as a partner at Shearman, before which he worked at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as associate deputy attorney general and senior advisor for technology industries.  

His is the latest in a raft of recent departures from Shearman ahead of its planned merger with UK Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, where the firm has lost partners to US rivals including Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, King & Spalding and Morgan Lewis as well as UK firms like Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Ashurst. 

Cleary said that Shores’ hire would strengthen its bench in the “critical'' area of antitrust merger litigation. He also represents companies in other high-stakes antitrust and other complex litigation at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts, and in antitrust and other investigations. He has represented companies in industries including internet retail, financial technology and energy, among others, in matters involving all types of antitrust claims under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and similar state laws. 

At Cleary he has joined a first-rate antitrust team that regularly advises blue-chip clients in their most important mergers and in high-stakes civil and criminal investigations, including Broadcom, T-Mobile USA, The Coca-Cola Company and Google. 

A number of partners in the team were previously senior officials at the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission, including leading practitioners like San Francisco-based George Cary and David Gelfand in Washington DC. 

“Cleary has a proven track record in high-profile litigation and handling sensitive civil and criminal antitrust investigations,” Shores said. “I am looking forward to joining a firm of this stature where I can contribute to their deep experience.”

Shearman & Sterling did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Shores’ departure.