Edited by Douglas Harbrecht

Joel I. Klein, the Justice Dept.'s nominee to head the Antitrust Div., coasted through his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Apr. 29. Senate approval is likely to follow shortly.

Klein, who has served as acting antitrust head for the last six months, told the panel that his priorities would include monitoring international markets for antitrust practices, keeping an eye on so-called high-tech network industries, and developing competition policy in newly deregulated industries, such as telecommunications and electricity.

The only pointed questions came from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) over Justice's approval of the Bell Atlantic-Nynex merger. Klein escaped any criticism of Justice's ongoing probe of Microsoft Corp. or his tenure as Deputy White House Counsel from 1993 to 1995, when he had oversight of Whitewater matters. Klein said a decision was imminent in Justice's review of the American Airlines-British Airways alliance.

A longtime Washington appellate attorney, Klein is relative newcomer to antitrust law. But he's highly regarded as an accomplished lawyer. A native of the Bronx, N.Y., where his father worked as a postman, Klein graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell before starting his own D.C. law practice and then entering public service during the Clinton Administration.

By Cathy Yang in Washington