OVERVIEW
Hilary has over two decades of experience representing businesses, individuals, and municipalities in the trial courts, appellate courts, and before the United States Supreme Court. She has served in leadership positions in a number of high-profile antitrust cases, including cases that have resulted in landmark court decisions. In addition to her antitrust work, Hilary has litigated consumer fraud, breach of contract, and other complex litigation matters. Over the course of her career, her cases have achieved over $2 billion in settlements for victims of wrongdoing.
Hilary has a national reputation for excellence. She has been named a “Litigation Trailblazer & Pioneer” and “Antitrust Litigation Star” by the National Law Journal, a “Thought Leader” in competition law by Who’s Who Legal, and a “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer” by Lawdragon. The Legal 500 commended her as “a smart strategic thinker” who is “friendly, engaging and spot-on.” She has been asked to speak on matters related to antitrust enforcement, electronic discovery, and case management at American Bar Association and other conferences.
She is currently leading In re Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), a class action lawsuit alleging a global conspiracy by some of the world’s largest financial institutions to manipulate LIBOR. The manipulation of LIBOR, which is the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates for trillions of dollars-worth of financial transactions worldwide, is alleged to have caused billions of dollars in damage to municipalities, businesses, and investors. Settlements total $680 million to date.
She is also leading In re Domestic Airline Travel Antitrust Litigation (D.D.C.), a class action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy by United, American, Delta, and Southwest to artificially inflate domestic airline ticket prices by limiting capacity. Settlements total $60 million to date.
She serves as one of the lead attorneys representing the District of Columbia in an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, in which it asserts price-fixing and monopolization claims relating to Amazon’s imposition of anticompetitive agreements on its sellers. She also serves as one of the lead attorneys in In re Local TV Advertising Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill.), a class action lawsuit alleging that television broadcast station owners exchanged competitively sensitive information and fixed prices for broadcast television advertising.
She was one of the lead attorneys in In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation (N.D. Cal.), also known as the O’Bannon case, in which current and former student-athletes alleged that the NCAA and others conspired to pay nothing for the use of athletes’ names, images, and likenesses. The case, which has garnered significant press attention, was the first to find the NCAA’s rules and bylaws violate the antitrust laws, a finding ultimately affirmed by the Supreme Court.
During her career, Ms. Scherrer has led and worked on other significant antitrust cases, including: In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation (E.D.N.Y.); In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.); In re Chocolate Confectionary Antitrust Litigation (M.D. Pa.); Schuylkill Health System v. Cardinal Health 200 LLC (E.D. Pa.); In re Construction Flat Glass II Antitrust Litigation (W.D. Pa.); In re Publication Paper Antitrust Litigation (D. Conn.); Animalfeeds International Corp. et al. v. Stolt-Nielsen SA (arbitration); In re Oriented Strand Board Antitrust Litigation (E.D. Pa.); In re International Air Transportation Surcharge Litigation (N.D. Cal.); Thomas & Thomas Rodmakers, Inc. v. Newport Adhesives and Composites, Inc. et al. (C.D. Cal.); and In re Microcrystalline Cellulose Antitrust Litigation (E.D. Pa.).
Clients
Hilary has represented individual, business, and municipal clients seeking redress in the financial services, airlines, sports, medical products, consumer products, industrial products, and advertising industries, among others.
EDUCATION
American University Washington College of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2000
University of Colorado, Boulder, B.A., 1996
BAR ADMISSIONS
California
District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United State District Court for the Northern District of California
United State District Court for the Central District of California
United State District Court for the Eastern District of California
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Supreme Court
AFFILIATIONS
American Bar Association - Antitrust Law Section, Member
California Lawyers Association, Antitrust, UCL, and Privacy Section, Member
Women Antitrust Plaintiffs’ Attorneys, Member
WHAT OTHERS SAY
American Antitrust Institute
- Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice: an honor she received twice:
- As a part of the O’Bannon v. NCAA case team in 2015.
- As a part of the In re Air Cargo Antitrust Litigation case team in 2016.
Benchmark Litigation
- Local Litigation Star in 2021 and Litigation Star in 2023
- Antitrust/Competition
- Commercial Litigation
- Securities
- Top 150 Women in Litigation in 2014
- Antitrust Litigation Star and Local Litigation Star in 2012
Corporate Counsel
- Law Firm Thought Leader, Women, Influence and Power in Law Awards in 2023
Global Competition Review
- Litigation of the Year - Non-Cartel Prosecution: an honor she received as part of the O’Bannon v. NCAA case team in 2015.
Lawdragon
- 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers since 2019
Legal 500
- Recommended Lawyer, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Plaintiff since 2015
"In Washington, DC, Michael Hausfeld and Hilary Scherrer are 'friendly, engaging and spot-on.'" (Legal 500 US, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Plaintiff, 2020)
"A smart strategic thinker." (Legal 500 US, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Plaintiff, 2016)
Lexology Index (formerly Who's Who Legal)
- Thought Leader, USA: Competition, since 2023
- Global Leader, Competition: Plaintiff in 2020 & 2023
- Recommended Lawyer, Competition: Plaintiff since 2017
- Thought Leader, Competition: Plaintiff, 2023
“Hilary has a great attitude and ability.” (Who's Who Legal, Competition - Plaintiff, 2023)
Hilary Scherrer is a prominent litigator with a wealth of experience in high-profile antitrust and financial manipulation cases. (Who’s Who Legal, Competition - Plaintiff - Legal Marketplace Analysis, 2022)
Hilary "has wide-ranging experience in antitrust litigation in the U.S. and is regarded as one of the leaders in the field." (Who’s Who Legal, Competition - Plaintiff - Legal Marketplace Analysis, 2018)
National Law Journal
- Litigation Trailblazer & Pioneer, and Litigation Star in 2015
Super Lawyers
- Super Lawyer, Antitrust Litigation in Washington, DC since 2019
NEWS
EXPERIENCE
WHAT OTHERS SAY
Legal 500 US, 2019Friendly, engaging and spot-on.
Who's Who Legal, 2018Has wide-ranging experience in antitrust litigation in the U.S. and is regarded as one of the leaders in the field.