Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Bonnie Lau has joined the firm as a partner in San Francisco in its Global Antitrust Law Practice and Investigations + White Collar Defense Group. Ms. Lau’s practice focuses on civil and criminal antitrust litigation in federal and state courts, as well as enforcement proceedings before agencies in the U.S. and other countries. She further strengthens the firm’s criminal antitrust and cartel offerings following several recent high-profile additions, including Lisa Phelan, former Chief of the National Criminal Enforcement and Washington Criminal I Sections of the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Lau practiced with Dentons in San Francisco before joining Morrison & Foerster.
Ms. Lau has almost 15 years of experience litigating class action and complex commercial disputes, and has served as lead counsel on antitrust price-fixing cartel matters in the Northern District of California. She has defended companies in antitrust and related complex litigation involving claims of price-fixing, output suppression, monopolization, and group boycott, as well as prosecuted antitrust counterclaims in patent and IP infringement matters. She has successfully defended class actions, multi-district litigation, and enforcement actions in federal and state trial and appeals courts across the U.S., and advised on parallel international class actions and foreign regulatory actions.
Ms. Lau has significant experience in many industries that face government scrutiny, including technology and manufacturing. In addition to her work in the antitrust area, Ms. Lau has represented clients in various complex commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution matters relating to RICO violations, unfair competition, and intellectual property claims.
Among her recent client matters, Ms. Lau serves as lead counsel for a Japanese technology and manufacturing client in consolidated class action litigation alleging federal and state antitrust and consumer protection claims and Department of Justice Antitrust Division price fixing conspiracy investigation and criminal proceedings. She also oversees the related Canadian class action litigation and coordinates the company’s defense with local counsel of the foreign investigations and enforcement proceedings in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Brazil, and the European Union.
“Bonnie is a dynamic litigator and we are delighted that she has joined our global antitrust team,” said David Cross, partner in Morrison & Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice. “Northern California is a significant venue for antitrust litigation. Bonnie’s San Francisco-based practice and her experience in international competition enforcement complements our clients in the Bay Area and across the globe.”
Ms. Lau joins Morrison & Foerster’s deep bench of antitrust attorneys based in offices around the world, including Berlin, Brussels, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. In addition to Ms. Phelan, the firm has recently welcomed the following lawyers to its Global Antitrust Law Practice: of counsel Megan Gerking, a former trial attorney in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division who investigated and prosecuted global cartel cases; partner Daiske Yoshida, who has broad experience in cartel and other investigations; and partner Vishal Mehta, who has experience in all aspects of antitrust law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions.
Ms. Lau’s coming to Morrison & Foerster also highlights the firm’s commitment to adding exceptional lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area market. Recent additions to the litigation team in the Bay Area include white-collar litigators Christine Wong and Jina Choi.
“Morrison & Foerster’s outstanding litigation reputation, robust capabilities throughout the Bay Area, and leading antitrust and investigations platforms provide an excellent fit for my cartel practice,” said Ms. Lau. “I am excited to partner with MoFo’s talented experts in key international locations and bring my antitrust litigation experience to bear on behalf of the firm’s global clients as they navigate increasingly complex and expanding regulatory requirements for their businesses. I am also excited to join the firm because of its culture of collaboration and deep commitment to being a leader on diversity and inclusion.”
Ms. Lau devotes herself to promoting diversity in the legal community, serving as Chair-Elect of the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity Fellows Alumni; Co-Chair of the Women’s Leadership Network for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association; and Advisory Board member of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.
Source: www.mofo.com
