Niall E. Lynch

Niall E. Lynch represents leading US and global companies in United States Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal antitrust investigations and follow-on litigation.

Mr. Lynch helps clients successfully navigate the unique intricacies of DOJ antitrust investigations, drawing on 15 years of experience as a former prosecutor in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. His distinctive experience in international antitrust and competition matters includes cartels, civil conduct, and criminal investigations, as well as follow-on class action litigation.

Notably, Mr. Lynch has represented multinationals and their managers in criminal and administrative price-fixing investigations in Brazil, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His experience spans a variety of industries, including semiconductors, information technology, electronics, chemicals, oil and gas, consumer food products, government contracts, and media.

Mr. Lynch handles every stage of criminal antitrust investigations, including: negotiating compliance with DOJ grand jury subpoenas quickly and efficiently; resolving DOJ investigations with no enforcement action; securing favorable terms in plea agreements; and achieving winning results at trial.

Prior to 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. Mr. Lynch has repeatedly earned recognition as one of the world's foremost competition practitioners, including by The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers & Economists every year since 2013. He is one of seven lawyers in California to be named a 2019 Thought Leader by the publication. Mr. Lynch was ranked in Chambers USA as Band 1 for Nationwide Antitrust Cartels in 2021. Since 2020, Mr. Lynch has been recognized by The Legal 500 US as a Hall of Fame lawyer for his Antitrust: Cartel work.

Mr. Lynch is a member of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section’s International Cartel Task Force, and previously 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.