22 Jan 2026
Perkins Coie strengthens antitrust bench as Veronica N. Onyema joins Litigation and Antitrust practices
"Perkins Coie has hired Veronica N. Onyema as a partner in Washington, D.C., joining its Litigation and Antitrust & Unfair Competition practices; she joins from the DOJ Antitrust Division where she served as assistant chief."
Onyema joins Perkins Coie from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where she served as assistant chief of the Defense, Industrials, and Aerospace Section. In that role she helped lead landmark enforcement actions in the technology and financial services sectors, set litigation and trial strategy, served in key roles on trial teams, and conducted direct and cross-examinations of senior executives. She was regularly sought for written advocacy, drafting or overseeing legal writing in major enforcement matters, and she oversaw high-profile merger and conduct investigations. While at the Antitrust Division she personally led investigations in the satellite, automotive, space, electronics, and reusable packaging industries.
Before her service in the Antitrust Division, Onyema served in the DOJ Civil Division as a trial attorney in the National Courts Section, acting as counsel of record for the United States in numerous bid protest and contract termination matters and handling and arguing appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prior to her government service she was an antitrust lawyer at two prominent law firms, where she worked on matters including litigating a multibillion-dollar monopolization case and defending a chocolate manufacturer in a significant antitrust class-action suit.
Her arrival will bolster Perkins Coie’s Antitrust & Unfair Competition capabilities. Onyema earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.