Antitrust Division Names Rene Augustine Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Responsible for International and Policy

Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division, today announced that current Senior Counsel Rene Augustine will serve as Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General responsible for the Division’s international and policy matters.  Augustine will replace outgoing Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roger Alford, who will return to Notre Dame Law School as a tenured professor of law.

“Rene has distinguished herself in her service as Senior Counsel in the Antitrust Division’s Front Office, overseeing both the Competition Policy and Advocacy section, and the Media, Entertainment and Professional Services section.  Her proven effectiveness, sound judgment, and excellent diplomacy skills make her uniquely qualified for this position,” said Delrahim.

Recently, Augustine represented the Antitrust Division in Seoul, South Korea, alongside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in the first-ever consultations on competition-related matters pursuant to the U.S. – Korea Free Trade Agreement. 

Augustine has served in all three branches of government and in the private sector.  Prior to coming to the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice, she was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Counsel to the President.  She also served as Associate Counsel to the President in the George W. Bush Administration.  Previously, Augustine was Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where she was responsible for Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition issues, and was a lead counsel to the Chairman on passage of legislation increasing the Hart-Scott-Rodino filing threshold and improving the second request process.  Augustine clerked for Judge John Hargrove of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.  In the private sector, Augustine was an attorney at a national law firm, worked at the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, and was an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University Law School.

Augustine earned her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she was an editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review, served on the Vanderbilt Moot Court Board, and graduated Order of the Coif.