Lauren Norris Donahue is a partner in the firm's antitrust, competition & trade regulation and investigations, enforcement and white collar practice groups. She focuses her practice on domestic and international internal investigations, corporate criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, and antitrust counseling. Lauren has extensive experience representing clients in government antitrust investigations and enforcement actions before the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, as well as in class actions. Her cases involve a wide range of issues, including price-fixing, market allocation, bid-rigging, no-poach agreements, monopolization, attempted monopolization, fraud, market manipulation, unfair competition and other restraints of trade. Lauren has conducted numerous domestic and global internal investigations for major corporations across a variety of industries. She regularly defends corporations and individuals who are subjects of federal and state grand jury subpoenas, cross-border investigations and enforcement proceedings. She has also successfully represented international and U.S. companies in complex commercial litigation, particularly in antitrust class actions and multidistrict litigation.
Lauren also advises clients on a wide array of antitrust and competition issues, including the antitrust aspects of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Lauren has also helped guide the firm's clients through U.S. and international merger clearance, and advises on a number of antitrust issues related to both horizontal and vertical mergers, gun-jumping and pre-merger due diligence and integration planning.
Lauren’s practice includes counseling clients on antitrust compliance to help companies mitigate antitrust risks. She has represented U.S. and multinational corporations in the establishment and maintenance of antitrust compliance and audit programs, regularly provides antitrust compliance training and has been involved in the presentation of companies’ antitrust compliance programs to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
Lauren also advises the firm's health care clients on a variety of antitrust and competition issues, including competitor collaborations, information exchanges, group purchasing arrangements, hospital and physician group acquisitions, joint ventures and clinical integration.
Since 2018, Lauren has been recognized as a leading antitrust practitioner in Illinois by Chambers USA. In 2022, she was listed by Lawdragon as one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America. In 2021, she was recognized listed by Crain’s as a Notable Women in Law. Lauren is also regularly selected by her peers as a “Rising Star” in Illinois for Antitrust Litigation, and is recognized as an Emerging Lawyer in the areas of Antitrust Law and Criminal Defense Law: White Collar by the Leading Lawyers publication. The K&L Gates antitrust and competition group has been recognized by Chambers USA for Antitrust in Illinois (2020-2022), by US News-Best Lawyers: First- Tier Antitrust Law (2017-2022) and as the “Cartel & Trade Regulation Law Firm of the Year in Illinois” by the international review and assessment programs of both Corporate INTL Magazine and Global Law Experts (2016). Lauren is a frequent author and speaker on numerous topics relating to antitrust, government investigations and compliance issues.
Lauren's commitment extends to providing pro bono legal services, and she has successfully represented several individuals seeking asylum in the United States. She is also actively involved in the firm-wide Women in the Profession group, and is the chair of the Chicago office's Associate Development Committee.
Lauren was a summer associate at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in 2006. During law school, she was a judicial extern to the Honorable Ronald Guzman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Also, she was a law clerk for a small insurance defense firm in Chicago throughout law school.
- Listed by Chambers USA as Band 3 for Antitrust in Illinois (2021-2022) and as an “Up and Coming” lawyer for Antitrust in Illinois, 2018-2020
- Named to “Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America,” Lawdragon, 2022
- Named to Crain’s Notable Women in Law, 2020
- Named the Illinois Rising Stars list in the area of Antitrust Litigation, 2015-2021
- Named an “Emerging Lawyer” in the areas of Antitrust Law and Criminal Defense Law: White Collar by Leading Lawyers, 2015-2019
- American Bar Association, Antitrust Section and Young Lawyers Division
- Chicago Women in Antitrust Network, Co-Chair
- American Health Lawyers Association, Antitrust Practice Group Member
- “Expanded Merger Review Under the Biden FTC: Implications for Horizontal and Vertical M&A,” Strafford Group, 2 February 2022 (co-presenter)
- 17 November 2022, New Data Available Under the Hospital Price Transparency Rule (co-presenter)
- March 2022, Antitrust Invades the Workplace: What Employers Need to Know About "No Poach" Agreements, Non-Solicitation Clauses, and Employee Non-Competes (co-presenter)
- October 2021, Antitrust Earthquake! What corporate M&A attorneys need to know about recent developments in antitrust merger enforcement (co-presenter)
- “Antitrust Compliance: Developments, Best Practices and New Approaches,” The 33rd Annual Antitrust and Consumer Protection Seminar, Seattle, WA, 2 November 2016 (co-presenter)
- “Business Risks and Mitigation Strategies for Japanese Companies in an Era of Increased Antitrust Enforcement,” K&L Gates Event, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, September 2016 (co-presenter)
- "Business Risks and Mitigation Strategies in an Era of Increased Antitrust Enforcement,” K&L Gates Event, Chicago, November 2015 (co-presenter)
- “Cartel and Criminal Practice Update,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Cartel and Criminal Practice Committee, March 2015
- "Federal and State Regulation of Food," Feeding America, Chicago, January 2009 (co-presenter)
- “No-Poach Guilty Plea Flags How to Mitigate Risks,” Bloomberg Law, 22 September 2022
- "Antitrust Enforcement of No-Poach Agreements in Health Care and Unique Considerations for AMCs," American Health Law Association, 18 August 2022
- "U.S. Courts Annual Review, Ninth Circuit,” Global Competition Review, 6 July 2020 (co-author)
- “Mitigating Antitrust Risks with DOJ-FTC Pandemic Guidance," Competition Law360, 31 March 2020 (co-author)
- “HR Professionals Beware: Antitrust Violations in the Employment Arena May Subject Employers and their HR Personnel to Criminal Prosecution,” Business Law Today, December 2016
- "FTAIA Case Update: Seventh Circuit Decision in Motorola," Mobility LLC v. AU Optronics Corp, European Competition Law Review, 2015
- "Criminal Antitrust Enforcement Poses Significant Risks for FDA-regulated Industry," FDLI Update, November/December 2015
- "Antitrust Compliance: Practical Ways to Mitigate Antitrust Risk," K&L Gates’ Global Boardroom Risk Solutions Newsletter, December 2014 (co-author)
- "Exclusive Dealing: An Antitrust Analysis," The 101 Practice Series: Breaking Down the Basics, American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, Spring 2013
- "Highlights from the FTC’s Recent Workshop on Preventing Patent “Hold-Ups” in the Standard-Setting Context," ABA Antitrust Section, Joint Conduct Committee E-Bulletin, Fall 2011
- "Foreign Investment Update: Proposed Regulations to the Recently Amended Exon-Florio Provision," Client Alert, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Group, May 2008
- Mentioned, “CALIFORNIA: Parties Seek to Modify Sealing Procedures,” Class Action Prospector, 16 January 2023
- Mentioned, "DOJ Drops Criminal Price-Fixing Case Against Chicken Cos.," Law360, 15 September 2022
