Shari Ross Lahlou is an experienced first-chair trial lawyer who focuses her practice on antitrust and other complex litigation matters. She regularly handles high-stakes, high-profile matters for Fortune 500 companies and is well-regarded for achieving successful outcomes and delivering excellent service. Ms. Lahlou has experience in a broad array of industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, hospitality, chemicals, and transportation.

Ms. Lahlou represents clients throughout the United States in federal and state courts and in government investigations addressing a diverse range of antitrust, contract and business tort, licensing, and intellectual property issues. She has extensive experience with class actions and multi-district litigation, and regularly argues dispositive and class motions on behalf of her clients and joint defense groups. She has obtained significant trial court and appellate victories for her clients across a range of antitrust matters, including: claims alleging conspiracy, monopolization, tying, and exclusive dealing.

Recently, Ms. Lahlou successfully defended Marriott International against claims brought by TravelPass Group LLC, a downstream online travel agency, alleging a conspiracy among major hotel brands related to branded keyword bidding in online advertising. After five days of a jury trial, she secured a highly favorable resolution that completely vindicated Marriott, with TravelPass publicly acknowledging that Marriott did not participate in any unlawful activity and formally apologizing to Marriott and the Marriott family. 

Ms. Lahlou is also recognized for her extensive antitrust merger litigation experience on high-profile transactions. Recently, she was lead trial counsel for PeroxyChem in obtaining approval of its US$640 million merger with Evonik following a 2-week trial in D.C. federal court, which represented the first FTC merger-challenge loss in 5 years. 

She was also lead trial counsel for Humana in the 13-day trial of the Department of Justice's lawsuit to block its US$39 billion proposed merger with Aetna. Ms. Lahlou also represented AT&T in multiple mergers, including its recent headlining acquisition of Time Warner and its earlier proposed acquisition of T-Mobile.

The market acknowledges Ms. Lahlou as a leading litigation lawyer. In 2021, Global Competition Review named her a “Woman in Antitrust” and in the year prior, Law360 named her a 2020 “MVP of the Year” in the competition category. Global Competition Review previously named her a 2018 “Litigator of the Year” and the National Law Journal awarded her 2016 “M&A-Antitrust Trailblazer.” She was also listed as a "Recommended" lawyer by Who's Who Legal in its 2022 Competition guide. 

Prior to joining Dechert, Ms. Lahlou was a partner at another global law firm, where she served as Co-Chair of the Antitrust Group.

    • PeroxyChem (One Equity Partners) as lead trial counsel in defeating the FTC’s bid to block its $640 million merger with Evonik following a two-week trial in D.C. federal court. This ended the FTC's five-trial win streak in D.C. federal court, allowing the deal to close.
    • Marriott in two related cases brought against the major hotel brands alleging a conspiracy to restrict branded keyword bidding in online search advertising, one brought as a putative class action by consumers and one brought by TravelPass Group, a downstream online travel agency. In the TravelPass matter, secured a highly favorable resolution that completely vindicated the client after five days of a jury trial. In the consumer putative class action, secured a highly favorable resolution prior to expert discovery and class certification. 
    • CSX Transportation in the defense of Sherman Act Section 1 multidistrict class action litigation alleging conspiracy to fix fuel surcharge prices. Prevailed in defeating class certification on remand from the D.C. Circuit's prior opinion vacating the district court's previous ruling certifying the class.
    • Humana in antitrust litigation alleging a conspiracy regarding allergy testing and allergen immunotherapy. Prevailed on a motion to dismiss with prejudice as to the primary claims, dramatically reducing the potential damages.
    • AT&T as antitrust trial counsel, helping guide courtroom strategy in the landmark trial victory against the U.S. Department of Justice to gain clearance for AT&T’s US$85 billion vertical acquisition of Time Warner.
    • Chemours (and legacy entity DuPont) in defense of Sherman Act Section 1 class actions and opt-out litigations alleging conspiracy to fix the price of titanium dioxide. Prevailed in federal district court on summary judgment in an opt-out case brought by Valspar; summary judgment affirmed by the Third Circuit.
    • Owens & Minor, the nation’s leading distributor of medical and surgical products, in litigation alleging tying and exclusive dealing. Prevailed in federal district court on summary judgment, which was affirmed by the Tenth Circuit, and the Supreme Court denied certiorari.
    • Owens & Minor in defense of a novel conspiracy claim against a medical device manufacturer, several distributors, and Group Purchasing Organizations. Prevailed on a motion to dismiss with prejudice.  Although the Seventh Circuit reversed on the ground relied on by the district court, it adopted our argument that no viable conspiracy was alleged, terminating the case as to Owens & Minor.  
    • Humana as lead trial counsel in connection with the U.S. Department of Justice’s challenge of the company’s proposed merger with Aetna, valued at approximately US$39 billion.
    • AT&T in its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile.
    • AT&T in litigation over exclusive service provider relationship for iPhones.
    • DuPont in its prosecution of trade secrets claims and its defense of a Sherman Act Section 2 counterclaim; prevailed on summary judgment, which was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit.
    • RICO, a leading copier OEM in a case alleging violations of Sherman Act Section 2 using an aftermarket theory, and RICO.

    Includes matters handled at Dechert or prior to joining the firm.

    • Thriving in the New Antitrust Paradigm: Part. 2 – Business Practices - Dechert LLP, Webinar (December 14, 2021) 
    • Front of the Class: Cutting-Edge Strategies for Defeating Class Certification - Dechert LLP, Webinar (November 17, 2020) 
    • Nuts and Bolts: Sherman Act Section 2 - ABA program, Teleconference (June 5, 2020)
    • Defending Deals where Coordination is a Primary Theory of Harm: Lessons from Tronox/Cristal and Evonik/PeroxyChem - ABA program – M&A committee (May 21, 2020)
    • How to Win an Antitrust Merger Trial: Lessons from FTC v. Evonik/PeroxyChem - Dechert LLP, Webinar (May 7, 2020)
    • Lessons from The Field: The Evonik Litigation - W@Competition (May 6, 2020)