Hausfeld appoints experienced women antitrust partners to US leadership roles

Melinda Coolidge promoted to Hausfeld US Managing Partner

Megan Jones and Reena Gambhir appointed to the US Management Committee

Washington, DC, December 1, 2021. Hausfeld announced that, effective January 1, 2022, Washington, DC Partner Melinda Coolidge will become the firm’s US Managing Partner.

Also, the firm announced that San Francisco Partner Megan Jones and Washington, DC Partner Reena Gambhir will join the firm’s US Management Committee and Global Management Group. Both were founding attorneys of the firm.

Melinda has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Antitrust by Global Competition Review, and a Next Generation Lawyer in Antitrust – Civil Litigation by the Legal 500, having litigated complex class and individual actions through the hurdles of class certification, summary judgment, and trial. The global and US clients and classes she represents have obtained more than $1 billion in settlements. She leads the firm’s US business development committee and has been a member of the Management Committee since 2018.

Melinda has been recognized as a rising star in antitrust since 2014. In 2019, Global Competition Review awarded the case she helped lead, In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, as ‘Litigation of the Year - Cartel Prosecution,’ and she was named an Antitrust Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2016.

Brent Landau, Global Managing Partner, said:

“Melinda was the firm’s first US associate hire in 2008 and she is the perfect person to take on this important role. She is an outstanding lawyer, dependable partner, and inspirational leader. She has a deep understanding of our firm’s business, vision, and culture, having played a key role in the development and growth of our practice. I look forward to working with Melinda in this new position and I am excited to see all that she will do for Hausfeld in the future. I’m also thrilled that Megan and Reena will be joining the firm’s US Management Committee and know that they will continue to make important contributions to our firm as members of our leadership team.”

Melinda Coolidge, added:

“I am so deeply honored to have been given the opportunity to serve the firm in this way. I have always been proud to work alongside a team so dedicated to our vision of private enforcement of antitrust laws and other social and economic justice endeavors. I look forward to continuing this work and supporting the firm in this new role.”

This announcement expands on the global announcement of the firm’s implementation of its global leadership succession plan. There, the firm announced that Vice Chairs Brian Ratner and Anthony Maton will assume the roles of Global Co-Chairs of the firm, and long-time Chair Michael Hausfeld will become Chair Emeritus. Brent Landau will continue in his role as Global Managing Partner.

Michael Hausfeld’s transition to Chair Emeritus will allow him to focus on some of the firm’s cases in the antitrust, financial services, environmental, and human rights areas, while advocating for important policy goals and expanding his scholarship and teaching. The firm will continue to benefit from his decades of experience and there will be no change in the character, philosophy or identity of the firm.

Megan has two decades of experience of leading antitrust cases as class counsel, most recently leading the day to day operations of In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation, which settled for an historic $2.67 billion dollars. Megan’s experience and results have led to her being named a Titan of the Plaintiffs’ Bar by Law360 and an Elite Trial Lawyer by National Law Journal, winning Litigation of the Year by Global Competition Review, being inducted in the Hall of Fame by the Legal 500, and twice being the recipient of the American Antitrust Institute’s Outstanding Achievement in Litigation award. 

Reena has spent over 17 years litigating some of the world’s largest antitrust matters. Most recently, Reena has been leading the day to day management of In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, which resulted in settlements reaching over $2.3 billion on behalf of investors. Reena is also the firm’s US Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Partner and dedicates herself to important human rights cases. Reena has repeatedly been recognized for her work, including Global Competition Review’s Top Women in Antitrust global list and Litigation of the Year, Leading Global Lawyer by Lawdragon, a “Top Minority Business Leader” by the Washington Business Journal, and twice being named a “Woman Worth Watching” by the Profiles in Diversity Journal.  

Lastly, the firm announced that Lianne Craig will be stepping up to the Managing Partner role in London while John McElroy takes over from her as Head of Commercial Disputes, and Berlin Partner Ann-Christin Richter will join the Global Management Group.

The promotions are part of Hausfeld’s leadership transition plan, which also saw executive appointments for operations and finance during the last three years.

Notes to editors

  1. Hausfeld is a leading global litigation firm with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Brussels, Dusseldorf, London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Stockholm and Washington, DC.
  2. We are a gender diverse firm with 35% female partners and over 40% female lawyers and have an excellent track record of promoting women worldwide. Together, the Global Management Group is 54% women and the vast majority of our senior business professionals are women.
  3. Melinda Coolidge and Lianne Craig will join the firm’s Global Executive Committee (GEC) along with Michael Hausfeld, Brent Landau, Brian Ratner, Anthony Maton and German Managing Partner, Alex Petrasincu.
  4. From January 1, 2022, the firm’s leadership includes the GEC and a Global Management Group composed of the seven GEC members and other partners from across Hausfeld’s offices: Reena Gambhir from Washington, DC, Megan Jones and Bonny Sweeney from San Francisco, Partners Nicola Boyle and Scott Campbell from London, and Ann-Christin Richter from Berlin.

For additional information or interview requests, please contact:

Deborah Schwartz 
Media Relations 
240 355-8838 
deborah@mediarelationsinc.com