By David Thomas

May 27 (Reuters) - Private law firms are taking advantage of continued departures by attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division during President Donald Trump's second term.

Since the February resignation of Gail Slater, Trump’s pick to lead the DOJ's antitrust division, and the earlier departure of her deputy, Mark Hamer, who returned to Baker McKenzie, at least six attorneys have left the division, adding to the partnerships at O’Melveny & Myers, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Winston & Strawn.

The antitrust division is now overseen by Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi. Reuters reported in April that Trump is considering appointing Michael Murray, who co-leads the antitrust and competition practice at Paul Hastings, to take over the division.

The latest departure came Wednesday, when litigation firm Sher Tremonte said it hired Catherine Dick, the antitrust division’s litigation director, as a partner in Washington, D.C. Dick worked on several major matters at the agency, including cases against Apple, Google, Live Nation and RealPage.

Dick said her decision to leave was unrelated to Slater’s departure, and she declined to comment on other exits from the division. Instead, she pointed to a desire to broaden her practice after years in government.

“At a litigation boutique, I don’t have to be a partner focused on one area,” she said.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters and other news organizations reported last July that two deputies to Slater were fired for insubordination after she resisted directives to resolve a case that could have derailed Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, highlighting tensions over the division's enforcement priorities.

More than 10,000 employees, including lawyers and other workers, have left the Justice Department over the past two years, according to data published in March by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Reuters reported in January that the federal government as a whole saw the departure of nearly 8,600 lawyers between Trump's inauguration and November 2025.