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.
Niall 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:
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, Niall 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. Niall 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, Niall 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.
Niall 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.
Niall's experience includes representing:
In the leading competition publication’s annual review of the strongest antitrust practices around the globe, the firm dominated in every category, ranking second across all specialties.
Latham earned a top three ranking in every antitrust category, including merger control, cartel, non-cartel, and private litigation.
Global Competition Review’s renowned annual rankings celebrate Latham’s banner year of legal innovation and history-making work.