Following his confirmation by the Senate, R. Hewitt Pate officially became the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust on June 16, 2003. Mr. Pate served as Acting Assistant Attorney General Attorney General from November 23, 2002, until his confirmation. Previously, he served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division, a position occupied since June 3, 2001. As a Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Pate oversaw Division matters including airline, transportation, energy and regulatory issues. Prior to his appointment to the Antitrust Division, Mr. Pate practiced law at Hunton & Williams where he was a partner on the firm's antitrust team and involved in litigating cases related to regulation of the competitive process, including antitrust, patent, trademark, trade secrets, false advertising and other business torts. Mr. Pate earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1987, where he graduated first in his class and was a member of Order of the Coif. In addition to being recognized for having the best written work in his class, he was Executive Editor of the Law Review. Mr. Pate received his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of North Carolina in 1984. After graduating from law school, Mr. Pate clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (1989-1990), former Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (1988-1989), and Judge Harvie Wilkinson III, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1987-1988). Mr. Pate is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia Bars and past chair of the Virginia Bar Antitrust Section. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Federalist Society, and the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. In addition to practicing law, Mr. Pate was a frequent lecturer and author of articles related to antitrust and other legal matters. In 1999, he served as the Ewald Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, teaching Intellectual Property/Unfair Competition and Law of the Political Process. |
