The search giant is getting some serious treatment. This is the first time in at least four years the FTC has had anyone other than internal staff run a major investigation.
The outside litigator in question: Beth Wilkinson. She's a partner at the international law firm Paul, Weiss and previously helped secure a conviction against Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. She will begin work on the Google case Monday.
"We want to bring in someone who is a world class litigator and has some antitrust experience and the trust of the commission," Leibowitz told a small group of reporters.
Wilkinson previously chaired the white-collar crime group at the law firm Latham & Watkins. She also worked in-house for the mortgage company Fannie Mae for several years. Wilkinson began her legal career in the U.S. Army, where she achieved the rank of captain and was an assistant to the general counsel of the Army for Intelligence & Special Operations from 1987 to 1991, according to her bio page on the Paul, Weiss site.
Leibowitz announced Wilkinson's addition to the FTC's Google investigation team while in San Francisco visiting a number of startups and tech companies including Square, Mozilla and others.
The FTC is investigating Google's search business for anti-competition infractions. The investigation does not necessarily mean the FTC will sue Google, but it does pave the way for possible litigation.
"In an important case, you want to do a thorough investigation and make sure you get it right," Leibowitz said Thursday. "It's sometimes a good idea to bring someone in from outside and we found out Beth was interested in coming aboard. The commission talked about it and we thought it would be great for the consumers we represent."