Kelly Fayne

kelly.fayne@lw.com

+1.415.646.7897

Profile

Recognized as a next-generation leader in antitrust and a leading antitrust lawyer in California, Kelly Fayne guides many of the world’s most innovative companies through the evolving global antitrust landscape to advance their strategic objectives.

One of the sharpest economics minds in the antitrust bar, Kelly leverages data and cutting-edge economics to craft winning strategies for companies at the forefront of technology and innovation. She guides companies around the world on:

Antitrust compliance and counseling
Antitrust litigation, including merger defense
Global deal clearance strategies for their global M&A
Government conduct investigations before antitrust regulators in the US, EU, UK, Australia, and across Asia and Latin America

She represents clients from a wide range of industries and helps them navigate the strategic risk calculus unique to highly scrutinized sectors such as technology, healthcare, private equity, and more.

Kelly also helps clients distill complex antitrust economic analysis and econometrics into persuasive arguments.

A recognized leader in the industry and within the firm, Kelly actively participates in the ABA Antitrust Law Section, for which she frequently writes and speaks on a range of antitrust issues and serves as Chair of the Economics Committee. She has also served as senior editor of the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s Antitrust Law Journal.

Before law school, Kelly was an analyst at a major economic consulting firm, where she supported expert economists in antitrust and intellectual property matters.

Experience

Kelly’s experience includes advising a who’s who of tech companies on various competition matters and acquisitions including Meta, OpenAI, Coinbase, Snowflake, DoorDash, and many others. Additional relevant experience includes:

GTCR/Biocoat in the successful defense of the FTC’s challenge to GTCR's US$627 million acquisition of Surmodics
10x Genomics defending against antitrust and state unfair competition counterclaims in a patent suit resulting in a decisive dismissal at summary judgement
Live Nation Entertainment in its antitrust defense of claims brought by the DOJ and several states
DoorDash on its acquisitions of Deliveroo, SevenRooms and various other competition matters and acquisitions
AMD on its US$35 billion acquisition of Xilinx and US$4.9 billion cash and stock transaction purchase of ZT Systems
Meta in its US$27 billion data center joint venture with Blue Owl
Fubo in its combination with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV
Cognition AI in its acquisition of Windsurf
e.l.f. Beauty in its acquisitions of rhode and Naturium
Cloudera in its US$5.3 billion take-private acquisition
EverWatch on its merger clearance strategy and litigation defense against the US DOJ in connection with its proposed US$440 million acquisition by Booz Allen Hamilton, taking the matter from complaint through trial in less than three months and allowing for a same-year deal closing, for which the team received AmLaw’s Litigator of the Week Runner-Up honors in October 2022
U.S. Sugar on defending against the DOJ’s challenge to its US$315 million acquisition of Imperial Sugar and defending that victory on appeal in the Third Circuit, winning a unanimous affirmance, garnering Am Law’s Litigator of the Week Runner-Up honors in September 2022 and July 2023
New Relic on its US$6.5 billion take-private agreement with TPG and Francisco Partners
SGH on acquiring Stratus Technologies
MGM on its US$8.5 billion acquisition by a multinational technology company
Meta in general antitrust advice and on multiple acquisitions
Intuit on its US$7.1 billion acquisition of Credit Karma
Okta on its US$6.5 billion acquisition of Auth0
Entercom on its merger with CBS Radio