The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Meghan is a Chambers-ranked partner in Freshfields’ antitrust, competition and trade practice based in Washington, DC. She represents clients in merger and non-merger investigations before the DOJ and FTC.
Meghan understands complex and high-stakes antitrust issues and can explain technical products to regulators. In addition, clients value Meghan’s ability to view U.S. antitrust matters with an international lens.
Meghan is a leader in the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law through her role as a member of the U.S. Presidential Transition Task Force (2024-2025) and a former Co-chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee. Early in her career, Meghan clerked for the Honorable Jane R. Roth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Meghan chairs Freshfields' U.S. Associate Talent Development Committee and is active in the firm’s recruiting efforts. She is also involved in Freshfields’ diversity activities, was co-head of the African-American Attorney Affinity Network at her prior firm and was a 2017 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity fellow.
Meghan is consistently recognized for her work and client service by leading industry publications, including Chambers USA and the Lawdragon 500 Guide, and she has been named among The Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
Antitrust lawyers are attorneys who specialize in competition law or antitrust law, which regulates the conduct and organization of businesses to prevent monopolies and unfair trade practices. Antitrust lawyers may advise clients on antitrust regulatory issues, represent them in litigation or investigations, or help them with M&A. Antitrust lawyers need to understand the client’s industry and business objectives, as well as antitrust laws and agencies.
What types of clients do you represent?
I represent clients across industries but have done a significant amount of work for life sciences companies, including pharmaceutical, defense, technology, and chemical companies.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
My practice specifically focuses on advising clients on the merger clearance process before the Antitrust Division of the DOJ and the FTC. I also advise clients on their day-to-day business activities that have antitrust implications, namely, customer and supply relationships, exclusive arrangements, joint ventures, and competitor collaborations, among other activities.
How did you choose this practice area?
To be a good antitrust lawyer, you must understand your clients’ business and the industry in which they operate. I loved the idea of learning everything I could about an industry and then applying that to a legal question. The practice of antitrust also involves the application of economics, which was a subject I enjoyed in undergrad. Finally, I liked that antitrust combines transactional, litigation, and counseling work—the best of all worlds.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
A typical day might involve communicating with a DOJ or FTC staff attorney about a transaction or working with a client (often a client’s general counsel, the in-house M&A or antitrust lawyers, or the M&A strategy and business development team) and analyzing the antitrust risks associated with a potential transaction. Another day might involve advising a client’s commercial team on how to reduce the antitrust risks associated with a planned supplier or customer contract.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
Many law schools have a basic Antitrust Law class, which I’d recommend. Some law schools have more advanced classes that you can take beyond the 101 level on specific topics in antitrust, like International Antitrust or Merger Clearance. Beyond antitrust law classes, I’d recommend taking a course on accounting for lawyers. Understanding a client’s business often involves familiarity with topics like balance sheets or profit-and-loss statements, and an accounting basics class can be helpful with this.
What do you like best about your practice area?
I love that every client and every transaction is different. The industry differs, the antitrust issues differ, even the regulatory framework can differ. It’s constantly changing and challenging. For example, one day I am deep in the weeds on pharmaceutical treatments for a certain disease and the next I am considering how consumer retail products compete.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
Antitrust at Freshfields is unique in that our practice is one of the top antitrust practices in the world. We handle everything from the most complex cross-border transactions to the most challenging domestic antitrust litigation matters—matters that make front page news. We practice globally, and that sense of being one team across jurisdictions is developed through our unparalleled global antitrust training program, which hosts in-person and virtual trainings for all antitrust associates at different stages of their careers.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
A junior lawyer will typically do a lot of research and writing. The research can vary from performing case law research when writing a brief of fact research on an industry (e.g., reading a company’s 10-K, searching through industry publications, or reviewing clinical trial databases) when drafting a risk assessment of a potential transaction. Junior lawyers also review merger agreements to put together issues lists for the M&A team when negotiating a transaction. Finally, they may conduct client interviews to understand the competitive landscape in a given industry or the potential impacts of a transaction or assist in deposition preparation.
What kinds of experience can summer associates gain at this practice area at your firm?
Summer associates will have the opportunity to try all aspects of antitrust work while at the firm: merger, antitrust litigation, counseling, and investigation work. This close connection across offices is a hallmark of our antitrust practice group, and even summer associates take advantage of it.