Keystone's Antitrust Coup: DOJ Architects of Big Tech Cases Join the Defense

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 30, 2026 – In a move that sends a clear signal across the technology and legal sectors, advisory firm Keystone has poached two of the Department of Justice's top antitrust economists, Malika Krishna and Brian Clark. The duo, both former Acting Assistant Chiefs in the DOJ's Antitrust Division, will join as partners to anchor a new Washington, D.C. office, placing them at the physical and strategic heart of the regulatory battles they once helped lead.

The announcement is more than a high-profile recruitment; it's a strategic masterstroke in an era defined by escalating antitrust warfare against Big Tech. As federal agencies intensify their scrutiny of digital markets, Keystone is arming itself—and its clients—with the very minds that architected the government's modern enforcement playbook.

The New Antitrust Battleground

The hires come at a moment of unprecedented regulatory pressure. Under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter at the DOJ and Chair Lina Khan at the FTC, Washington has adopted its most aggressive antitrust posture in decades. The giants of Silicon Valley find themselves in a multi-front war, defending their business models against allegations of monopolization and anti-competitive conduct.

This is the environment that makes the arrival of Krishna and Clark so consequential. The legal landscape is being actively rewritten by landmark cases. The DOJ's monopolization suit against Apple, which survived a crucial motion to dismiss in June 2025, proceeds toward a high-stakes trial. A federal judge has already found Google's search business to be an illegal monopoly, imposing behavioral remedies in late 2025, while a separate verdict on its ad tech dominance is imminent. The FTC, despite a recent setback in its case against Meta, continues its broad campaign against Amazon, with a trial scheduled for later this year.

This is not just a flurry of legal activity; it's a fundamental re-evaluation of how competition works in the digital age. Regulators are focused on the power of platforms, the economics of innovation, and the competitive harm caused by data-driven ecosystems. It is precisely this complex nexus of technology, law, and economics that has become the central battleground.

A Strategic Coup in the Capital

Against this backdrop, Keystone's expansion is a calculated power play. By opening a new office in the West End and staffing it with top-tier former enforcers, the firm is planting its flag at the "epicenter of U.S. legal, regulatory and policy decisions," as the company stated. This move elevates Keystone from a respected advisor to a formidable player in the high-stakes world of D.C. regulatory consulting, placing it on equal footing with established competitors like Compass Lexecon and The Brattle Group, which have long leveraged their capital presence.

Keystone CEO Jeff Marowits framed the expansion as a cultural and strategic imperative. "Our growing presence in D.C. with this new space embeds our culture and fosters community in our nation's capital," he noted. The move is the latest in a global expansion that includes recent offices in London and Dubai, signaling a strategy to build a presence in key global regulatory hubs.

The true value, however, lies in the human capital. "Malika and Brian are true experts who have shaped some of the most complex arguments in technology," Marowits added, "and their arrival at Keystone deepens the exact experience our clients need now more than ever." That experience is not just academic; it's the institutional knowledge of how the government builds, argues, and wins its most challenging cases.

Inside the Enforcers' Playbook

The specific résumés of Malika Krishna and Brian Clark read like a highlight reel of modern antitrust enforcement. Their expertise isn't theoretical; it was forged in the trenches of the government's most significant recent actions.

Brian Clark served as the manager and lead economist on U.S. v. Apple, the DOJ's landmark monopolization case. The economic theory of harm he developed was robust enough to survive Apple's motion to dismiss, a critical victory for the government. He was also the lead economist on the case that blocked Visa's acquisition of Plaid, a move that reshaped the fintech landscape, and his work on the FTC's challenge to the Illumina/Pacific Biosciences merger is cited as a landmark in nascent-competition enforcement. Clark is known for his rare ability to translate "sophisticated economics into clear and intuitive arguments that persuade courts and regulators," a skill now available to the private sector. As he noted, "The biggest challenge is often translating that underlying complexity into something a court or a regulator will find persuasive, and that's the work that Keystone does better than anyone."

Malika Krishna brings equally potent insider knowledge. As a senior leader in the DOJ's Antitrust Division, she managed the economic analysis for dozens of merger and conduct investigations across technology, software, and telecom. Crucially, she was part of the team that helped shape the landmark 2023 Merger Guidelines. These guidelines represent the DOJ and FTC's current analytical framework for assessing deals, and Krishna's intimate familiarity with their development offers an unparalleled advantage to companies navigating the M&A approval process. "Antitrust enforcement in technology and digital markets has never been more consequential," Krishna stated, emphasizing the need for advisors "who can move fluidly between economic rigor and the practical realities of litigation."

The Revolving Door Spins Faster

The "revolving door"—the well-trodden path from public service to lucrative private sector work—is a perennial feature of Washington. However, these appointments feel different, arriving at a moment of peak friction between regulators and the tech industry. This isn't just about cashing in; it's about transferring the government's most advanced strategic assets to the other side of the chessboard.

Keystone has been building this arsenal for some time. The firm's advisory team already includes Susan Athey, a former Chief Economist of the DOJ's Antitrust Division, and Andrea Coscelli, the former CEO of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. The addition of Krishna and Clark dramatically deepens this bench, creating a brain trust of former top regulators.

For technology companies facing existential threats from antitrust litigation, the value is immense. This level of expertise allows them to do more than just react to a government lawsuit. It enables them to anticipate regulators' moves, pressure-test their own business practices against the government's likely theories of harm, and craft economic defenses that speak the same language as the enforcers. It is the ultimate insider's guide to navigating a regulatory minefield, provided by the very experts who helped lay the mines.