DOJ Top Antitrust Litigators Exit After Ticketmaster Accord (1)

The US Justice Department’s top antitrust litigator and three senior trial attorneys that led cases against Live Nation Entertainment Inc., Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are leaving the agency, according to people familiar with their plans.

Some of the departures stem from anger among the antitrust staff about a surprise March 9 settlement with Live Nation and concerns about whether the division is committed to litigating pending cases, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal agency dynamics.

The Justice Department settled an antitrust case accusing Live Nation of illegally monopolizing the live events industry one week after the start of a New York federal jury trial. The deal was negotiated without the input of the trial team, catching even the lead counsel by surprise.

The Justice Department settlement — which stopped short of a breakup and allowed Live Nation to keep Ticketmaster — also came as a shock to dozens of states that had signed on to the lawsuit. More than 30 of them continued the trial, which is wrapping up Thursday.

Read More: Secret Deal to Avoid Ticketmaster Breakup Spurs Frantic Week

David Dahlquist, the Justice Department’s acting director of civil antitrust litigation, announced his resignation Wednesday during a hearing in the government’s case against Google for illegally monopolizing the online search industry.

“I have given my notice,” Dahlquist said at the hearing and introduced a colleague who will helm the litigation going forward. He didn’t give a reason for his departure in court.

Dahlquist joined the Justice Department in August 2022 and served as the lead trial counsel for the Live Nation monopolization case and the 2025 remedy trial against Google.

“These outgoing employees served honorably,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi in a statement. “I am so proud of our staff, who continue to achieve justice through their enforcement actions, settlements, and investigative decisions.”

The Justice Department has seen record numbers of departures since the Trump administration started in January 2025 as thousands of experienced prosecutors were either fired or resigned. The antitrust division initially experienced fewer exits than other areas within the agency as the administration sought to avoid cutbacks on its competition work. But Donald Trump’s antitrust chief Gail Slater left earlier this year amid internal disagreement over merger enforcement.

Read More: ‘Good Riddance’: How a MAGA Acolyte Helped Oust Antitrust Chief

The Biden administration made antitrust enforcement a cornerstone of its economic policy and its Justice Department filed a record number of cases, including more monopolization lawsuits than at any time since the trust-busting era of the early 1900s. Under Trump, the Justice Department has moved to settle several of them, including Live Nation, and hasn’t challenged a merger since January 2025.

A Justice Department official pushed back on the idea that the departures all related to the Live Nation case. Instead, recent exits have come about because of job opportunities or ongoing concerns about the possibility of further government shutdowns after six weeks last year where federal workers weren’t paid, said the official, who asked not to be named discussing internal matters.

Dahlquist’s exit coincides with the departures of two other senior antitrust litigators who worked on the Live Nation case: Bonny Sweeney, who joined in 2022 from the law firm Hausfeld; and Lorraine Van Kirk, who joined DOJ from the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau.

Sweeney served as co-lead on Live Nation after helming the Justice Department’s trial teams that successfully blocked JetBlue Airways Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines Inc. and a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines Group Inc. Van Kirk was co-lead on the Justice Department’s monopolization case against Apple, which has yet to go to trial.

Earlier: Justice Department Sues Apple in Antitrust Case Over iPhone

Separately, Julia Tarver Wood, a 2023 hire by DOJ from the law firm Paul Weiss, is also leaving the agency. Wood was the lead in the Justice Department’s case against Google over advertising technology, both in the 2024 liability trial and one over remedies last year. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria found the company illegally monopolized two aspects of the advertising technology market but has yet to issue a ruling on the remedy.

MLex earlier reported the departures of Sweeney and Wood.

(Updates with comment from DOJ acting antitrust chief in eighth paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Leah Nylen in Washington at lnylen2@bloomberg.net;
Sabrina Willmer in Washington at swillmer2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth

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