Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP (“Freshfields”) announced today that Meghan Rissmiller has joined the firm in Washington, D.C. as a partner in its leading US antitrust practice. Ms. Rissmiller specializes in advocating before the US antitrust agencies and guiding clients on the clearance of M&A transactions. Rissmiller makes the move to Freshfields from Hogan Lovells, where she had spent the last eleven years with their antitrust practice group.

 

Ms. Rissmiller is yet another top antitrust lawyer joining Freshfields in recent months, following the addition in July 2020 of former DOJ antitrust trial lead Julie Elmer. These moves provide support for the firm’s M&A practices in New York and Silicon Valley and the high demand from clients for Freshfields’ unique platform of top antitrust and foreign investment regulatory guidance across Europe, Asia, and the United States.  The firm now has 17 partners and counsel leading its renowned US antitrust practice. 

“Meghan is a terrific addition to enable us to meet client demand for antitrust guidance during these volatile yet active times,” said Edward Braham, Chair of Freshfields. “Together with our strong team of former senior lawyers from the DOJ Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission, Meghan will be instrumental in supporting our clients on M&A transactions.”

“Meghan adds to the quality and depth of our accomplished US antitrust team focused on M&A work, which includes the most successful litigators to have blocked mergers while at the DOJ Antitrust Division and is among the few to have defeated the FTC in merger litigation,” said Ethan Klingsberg, Freshfields’ Head of US Corporate and M&A. “The firm’s strength before the US antitrust agencies, especially when integrated with our market-leading European and Asian antitrust teams and CFIUS and foreign investment regulatory practices, is invaluable for clients.”

 

“Meghan has an impressive track record of advising clients on complex mergers and other high-stakes antitrust matters,” said partner Paul Yde, one of the leaders of Freshfields US antitrust practice and a former senior lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission.

 

“We are honored to have Meghan join us. She brings tremendous talent, expertise, and energy to our team,” added Mary Lehner, another former senior lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission and leader of the firm’s US antitrust practice.

 

Ms. Rissmiller is a leader in the US antitrust bar, currently serving as Vice Chair of the Federal Civil Enforcement Committee in the ABA’s Antitrust Section, and at her former firm, as co-leader of its African-American Attorney Affinity Network. Before entering private practice, she clerked for the Honorable Jane R. Roth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“I am thrilled to join Freshfields’ unparalleled global platform and practice alongside the standout antitrust team,” said Ms. Rissmiller. “The firm’s stellar reputation for providing top-tier counsel to clients across the globe and the intensity of the recent activity in the firm’s M&A practice in the United States make this an exciting time to join. The energy is palpable and the client demands are real and complex.”