Bill Baer is joining the Brookings Institution as a visiting fellow in Governance Studies, where he will focus on antitrust and competition policy. Bill has served as a leader in US federal antitrust enforcement for over four decades, most notably as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice from 2013 to 2016 and as Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission from 1995 to 1999.
During his tenure as Assistant Attorney General, the Antitrust Division achieved numerous successes in civil and criminal enforcement. As Acting Associate Attorney General from 2016 to 2017, Bill oversaw the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Tax, and Environment and Natural Resources Divisions and led efforts to hold financial institutions accountable in the residential mortgage-backed securities crisis, securing record penalties and consumer redress.
Bill also worked at the Federal Trade Commission from 1975 to 1980 as an Attorney Advisor to the Chairman and Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Congressional Relations. In addition to his public service, Bill headed the antitrust practice at Arnold & Porter, representing a broad range of companies in the US and international cartel investigations, antitrust litigation, and mergers and acquisitions reviews by antitrust enforcers, including the DOJ, FTC, state attorneys general, and the European Commission.
