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:

  • 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, 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:

  • A defense industry contractor in a DOJ criminal antitrust investigation in which Latham successfully secured immunity for the company through the Corporate Leniency Program in connection with allegations of bid-rigging on government contracts, price-fixing, and no-poach concerns
  • Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a leading manufacturer of generics, in a DOJ criminal investigation alleging that it and other major generic pharmaceutical companies entered into a years-long conspiracy to fix prices, in which Latham persuaded the DOJ to dismiss the criminal indictment and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with a substantially reduced fine 
  • A technology company in responding to inquiries related to potential price fixing and price-gouging violations
  • A leading software company in a DOJ investigation into a potential hub-and-spoke conspiracy involving algorithmic pricing software
  • A leading retailer in parallel European Commission and DOJ investigations into allegations of anticompetitive behavior
  • A leading US defense contractor in a criminal no-poach investigation brought by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division and the follow-on class action litigation 
  • Successfully resolving a DOJ grand jury investigation with no enforcement action for one of the world’s largest advertising holding companies
  • The largest US consumer tuna producer in a DOJ grand jury investigation into price fixing
  • A major financial services institution in successfully resolving a DOJ and Commodity Futures Trading Commission market manipulation investigation without charges filed  
  • Several Japanese automotive parts manufacturers and executives in criminal price-fixing investigations by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, none of which has resulted in criminal
  • A major US consumer products manufacturer in an FTC price-fixing suit
  • One of the largest US propane suppliers sued in 38 class actions by direct and indirect purchaser plaintiffs (In re: Pre-Filled Propane Tank Antitrust Litigation)
  • Several Fortune 500 companies in internal investigations relating to potential antitrust violations
  • The president of a major energy company and the CEO of software company in criminal price-fixing investigations by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, in which both executives were cleared of all charges 

Bar Qualification

  • California

Education

  • JD, University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1991
  • BA, University of California, Berkeley, 1986