(Reuters) - Crowell & Moring is continuing to add partners in 2020, including in its hometown of Washington, D.C.

The firm on Wednesday announced it had picked up a seasoned D.C. antitrust litigator from McDermott Will & Emery, Stefan Meisner, a week after it added an intellectual property practice leader from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in the capital.

Meisner, who will be a partner in Crowell's antitrust and competition group, has represented a roster of clients that includes food and candy manufacturer Mars, Inc. and aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin.

Crowell in a press release touted Meisner's experience representing Fortune 500 companies. Firm chair Philip Inglima noted that Meisner also has transactional experience.

Adding Meisner to the firm at this point in time is "tremendous," Jason Murray, co-chair of Crowell's antitrust and competition group, said in the release.

That's because the ongoing Covid pandemic and the "ensuing global recession have created tremendous competitive pressures" for the firm's clients, and global antitrust regulators have "made prosecuting national and international cartels a top priority," Murray said.

Crowell has recruited about 20 new partners so far this year, including Josh Pond, who led the ITC Section 337 practice at Kilpatrick before last week. In September the firm added a slate of new attorneys, including the head of U.K. law firm DWF's World Trade Organization and international trade practice and a team of 16 lawyers and professionals from Squire Patton Boggs in Washington and Doha, Qatar, giving Crowell a new office in the Persian Gulf.