Niall E. Lynch

Niall E. Lynch, nationally recognized litigator and former DOJ Antitrust Division prosecutor, represents global companies in all aspects of complex criminal antitrust investigations and follow-on litigation.

Mr. Lynch combines strength and poise under fire and commercial pragmatism to help clients navigate the intricacies of DOJ antitrust investigations. He deftly handles every stage of criminal antitrust investigations, including:

• Negotiating compliance with agency subpoenas, including grand juries
• Strategically defending clients and executives 
• Resolving agency investigations with no enforcement action
• Securing favorable terms in plea and deferred prosecution agreements
• Winning at trial

He regularly guides multinationals and their executives in criminal and administrative price-fixing investigations in international antitrust and competition matters involving information exchange, algorithmic pricing, cartels, government contracts, civil conduct, and criminal investigations. He also seamlessly handles follow-on class action litigation, antitrust and compliance training, and FTC conduct investigations.

Before joining Latham, Mr. Lynch served as Assistant Chief in the DOJ’s San Francisco Field Office. He led several of the division’s most significant criminal prosecutions, including the liquid crystal display (LCD) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) grand jury investigations, which resulted in US$1.6 billion in criminal fines and dozens of individual prosecutions. He also prosecuted numerous cases in the General Crimes Section while serving as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. Mr. Lynch tried several jury trials and received numerous awards during his tenure at the DOJ, including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the second-highest award for DOJ employee performance. 

A recognized leader in the antitrust bar, Mr. Lynch is Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section’s Cartel & Criminal Practice Committee and chaired the Executive Committee of the California State Bar’s Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section. He also previously served as Local Chair of Latham & Watkins’ San Francisco Litigation & Trial Department.

He is local partner in charge of mentoring for the Bay Area and has served as Vice Chair of the firm’s Recruiting Committee and on the Associates Committee. 

Mr. Lynch maintains an active pro bono practice, including serving on the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the US District Court for the Northern District of California.