Megan E. Jones

Megan E. Jones

  • Partner
  • San Francisco
she / her / hers

OVERVIEW

Megan Jones (@MeganJonesEsq), Co-Chair of the firm's Antitrust practice group, is a California Bay Area-based lawyer who focuses on recovering damages for companies who are victims of antitrust cartels for price-fixing, tying, restraints of trade, and other competition violations. With 19 years of experience in antitrust class actions, Megan is trusted by courts to lead large and complex antitrust cases:

  1. In re Local TV Advertising Litigation (Sole Lead counsel)
  2. In re Diisocyanates Antitrust Litigation (Co-Lead counsel)
  3. In re Beef Antitrust Litigation (Co-Lead Counsel)
  4. In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation (Plaintiff Steering Committee)
  5. In re Marriott International Customer Data Security Breach Litigation (Plaintiff Steering Committee)

Megan is known for her creativity on settlement issues.[1]  For example, in In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), Ms. Jones was co-lead counsel and recovered over $220 million dollars for a class of cities and municipalities.  Notably, Ms. Jones co-negotiated several of the settlements obtained in that class with Select State Attorneys General, who trusted class counsel to administer notice and the claims process for the joint proceeds. The American Antitrust Institute recognized this unusual public/private partnership, and awarded Megan (and her team) the “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice” in 2016.  Other settlements Ms. Jones negotiated include:

  • In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation – Resulted in over $200 million on behalf of the class.
  • In re Polyester Staple Antitrust Litigation – Resulted in $63.5 million on behalf of class.
  • In re Compact Disc Antitrust Litigation – Resulted in over $50 million on behalf of class.
  • In re Rubber Chemicals Antitrust Litigation – Resulted in over $100 million on behalf of class.
  • In re MMA Antitrust Litigation – Resulted in over $20 million on behalf of class.
  • In re EPDM Antitrust Litigation – Resulted in $81 million on behalf of class.
  • Megan was also involved in the negotiation of a $300 million global settlement with Bayer (which resolved three cases: EPDM, Rubber Chemicals and NBR), and drafted the innovative settlement agreement itself.

As one of the few women in the plaintiffs’ bar inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for continued excellence in litigation, Ms. Jones has a national reputation for excellence that has been obtained the old-fashioned way, by trying to be the best team member in the trenches. See “Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Hausfeld's Megan Jones,” April 30, 2014;  see also Chambers and Partners’ description of Ms. Jones as “personable, very smart and capable.”  She is known for creating effective multi-firm teams that focus with laser-like precision on the specific litigation strategy designed with input from diverse sources.  She is also known for her relentless pursuit of the facts, and is well-regarded for her electronic discovery prowess (speaking and training others on best practices via the prestigious Sedona Conference®). 

Whether leading enormous cases with 20+ defendants or small regional matters, Ms. Jones masters the intricacies of economic markets and works with experts to develop economic models for her clients’ recovery, which support class certification motions, settlement negotiations, and discovery efforts. Megan prides herself on the ability to create and lead teams of lawyers of any size (having organized teams of 80 law firms, in one particular case) to create a record that either wins the case, drives settlement, and /or obtains a decision upheld at the appellate level. Part of Megan’s success is due to her belief in using diverse and inclusive litigation teams, which she has helped foster over a decade by creating and running a conference for women antitrust lawyers to exchange best practices.

Megan is both reasonable and relentless. She carefully chooses her legal battles, and eschews gamesmanship for the sake of gamesmanship. Mindful of scarce judicial resources in complex antitrust cases that can last years, she develops a strategy at the outset about what particular legal issues need judicial attention and clears the board of the rest. She is highly respected from all contingents because she brings that same strategy to settlements, using her almost two decades of negotiation experience from being at Hausfeld to craft settlement strategy and terms in even the most difficult cases. Just one example of this creativity is that in one of her cases, Megan worked with and joined Select State Attorneys General to co-negotiate and jointly settle a class claim on behalf of certain states as well as the civil litigation class.

[1] https://podcast.ourcuriousamalgam.com/episode/48-how-do-you-get-to-the-final-yes/ (ABA’s Antitrust Section podcast, featuring Megan Jones, May 2020).

Clients

Companies that buy things to make things have typically bought cartelized products, and Megan helps them recover damages for such purchases. Able to analyze a corporation’s purchases around the world, Megan can then offer a panoply of options for recovery in multiple jurisdictions. She emphasizes the non- litigation options a corporation has when appropriate, and she is as adept at settling a case in a conference room as she is in a courtroom.

Experience

WHAT OTHERS SAY

Megan Jones is a superstar – creative, thoughtful, dynamic.

Legal 500 US, 2024

Megan runs these cases like no one else. She knows top to bottom and leads by example. She digs in on depositions and brief writing, oral argument and settlements.

Chambers US, 2024

Megan is a really fine antitrust lawyer. She pushes her client's cause really strongly.

Chambers US, 2023

Megan Jones deftly represents plaintiffs in significant anticompetitive disputes. She has expertise in cases concerning price fixing and trade restraints. A source stated that 'Megan is a smart and capable jurist who represents her clients with an unrivalled level of sophistication.’

Chambers US, 2022

Fierce advocate and stand-out partner

Legal 500 US, 2022

Stands out for her expertise in antitrust cartels, regularly procuring settlements for clients.

Legal 500 US, 2021

Deftly represents plaintiffs in significant anticompetitive disputes. She has expertise in cases concerning price fixing and trade restraints.

Chambers US, 2020

Commended for her expertise in representing corporate plaintiffs in cartel recovery actions. She is further noted for her work leading large class action cases. Sources state that 'Megan is a very good, diligent lawyer who considers the big picture.'

Chambers US, 2020

Identified by several peers as 'a leader at Hausfeld now.'

Benchmark Litigation, 2020

Well respected at the California Bar for her plaintiff-side antitrust practice.

Chambers US, 2019

The 'fantastic' Megan Jones is a distinguished figure in the North American competition market. Sources describe her as a 'future leader' of the field who 'is blazing a trail for younger women in the profession,' and is highly respected from all contingents.

Who's Who Legal, 2019

Personable, very smart and really capable.

Chambers US, 2018