Meghan Rissmiller

About Meghan Rissmiller

Meghan is a Chambers-ranked partner in our antitrust, competition and trade practice, based in Washington, DC. Meghan represents clients in merger and non-merger investigations before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Meghan understands complex and high-stakes antitrust issues and can explain technical products to regulators. In addition, clients value Meghan’s ability to view US antitrust matters with an international lens.  

Meghan is experienced in counseling clients on a wide range of antitrust issues, including competitor collaborations, joint ventures, all aspects of vertical relationships, and contractual arrangements. She has also litigated antitrust cases in federal court and administrative actions.

She covers a variety of industries with a particular emphasis on life sciences and technology, media and telecommunications. Of her many skills, Meghan is best known for her ability to become fully immersed in her clients’ businesses and for providing highly tailored and thoughtful commercial advice.

Meghan is a leader in the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law through her role as a member of the US Presidential Transition Task Force ('24-'25) and a former Co-Chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee. Early in her career, Meghan clerked for the Honorable Jane R. Roth of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Meghan chairs Freshfields' US Associate Talent Development Committee and is active in the firm’s law school and judicial clerk recruiting process. In addition, she is a member of Freshfields’ diversity committee, was co-head of the African-American Attorney Affinity Network at her prior firm, and was a 2017 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) fellow.

Outside of the firm, Meghan serves as an Additional Trustee for Beauvoir School to the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation Board of Trustees in Washington, DC.

Meghan is consistently recognized for her work and client service by leading industry publications including Chambers USA, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, and Lawdragon 500.

Recent work

Meghan’s experience includes advising:

• Johnson & Johnson on its $850mn acquisition of Proteologix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on bispecific antibodies for immune-mediated diseases, and its $2bn acquisition of Ambrx Biopharma, a biotech company developing next generation ADCs for prostate cancer.
• Janssen Pharmaceutical on its (i) global collaboration and licensing agreements with Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG), valued at $245mn; (ii) global licensing, co-development, and commercialization agreement with Nanobiotix, valued at up to $1.8bn; and (iii) out-license Co-development, Co-commercialization, and License Agreement with Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., valued at $175mn.
• Zeus Company, a medical device company, on its sale to EQT Partners.
• PhenomeX, a provider of single-cell biology research tools, in its $108mn sale to Bruker.
• Roivant Sciences on its $7.1bn sale of Telavant, the developer of treatments for IBS.
• eBay on its transactions with Collectors Universe Inc. to acquire Goldin Auctions LLC and to sell the eBay vault; and its $295mn acquisition of TCGplayer.
• JD Sports on its $1.1bn acquisition of Hibbett, Inc.; its $495mn acquisition of DTLR Villa; and its $325mn acquisition of Shoe Palace.
• Ericsson on its $6bn acquisition of Vonage and its divestiture of its internet of things and connected vehicle cloud business to Aeris.
• Verizon in its $5bn sale of Verizon Media Group to Apollo.
• Aerojet Rocketdyne in its proposed $4.4bn sale to Lockheed Martin (abandoned due to regulatory concerns).
• A chemical company on its divestiture of its kaolin clay business to KaMin, Inc.; its $1.2bn divestiture of its pigments business to Sun Chemical Company/DIC; and its $2.7bn water and paper chemicals transaction with Solenis.
• Western Union on the $910mn sale of its B2B global payments business to Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group.
• Amcor plc on its $6.8bn acquisition of Bemis Company.
• Change Healthcare on its $3.4bn JV with McKesson Technology Solutions.
• Orbital Sciences Corporation on its $5bn merger of equals with Alliant Techsystems (ATK).
• Clients across industries on various antitrust issues, including issues related to pricing, vertical agreements, joint ventures, information sharing, and consumer protection.