Kirkland Nabs Gibson Dunn Antitrust Trio in Dallas, D.C.

Gibson Dunn's antitrust practice co-leader, M. Sean Royall, and two other partners are joining Kirkland & Ellis.

November 06, 2019 at 11:04 AM

3 minute read

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
Senior reporter

M. Sean Royall, a co-chair of the antitrust and competition practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, is set to make a move to Kirkland & Ellis in Dallas, joining two other former Gibson Dunn antitrust and consumer protection partners who recently joined Kirkland.

Kirkland announced Wednesday that Olivia Adendorff has joined the firm as a partner in Dallas, and Richard Cunningham, who had been based in Gibson Dunn's Denver office, also recently joined as a partner in Washington, D.C. Cunningham also will spend significant time in Kirkland offices on the West Coast.

Royall will split his time between Kirkland's Dallas and Washington, D.C., offices, but he will not make the move until after he completes obligations at Gibson Dunn, according to Kirkland.

Royall, who has co-led his practice group at Gibson Dunn for more than 15 years, did not return a call seeking comment. Neither did Robert Walters, partner in charge of Gibson Dunn's Dallas office.

The three lawyers handle antitrust, data privacy and consumer protection work and represent clients in litigation and government investigations. They also work on Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice investigations.

Royall was deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition from 2001 to 2003. His high-profile representations include acting as lead lawyer for Facebook in its recent privacy-related FTC investigation, and in 2018 he was among the lawyers representing AT&T in connection with its acquisition of Time Warner. He was on the trial team that successfully defended that acquisition against a challenge by the DOJ.

Jeffrey Hammes, chairman of Kirkland's global management executive committee, said in a press release that the firm is "delighted" to expand its litigation and government investigations practice.

"This group of lawyers brings strong experience and reputations for achieving results for their clients during internal investigations, before the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, in litigation and at trial," Hammes said.

Kirkland has moved aggressively to expand its Dallas office, which launched in July 2018 and now has 48 lawyers according to the firm's website. Kirkland moved into the Texas market in 2014 when it opened in Houston, where it now has 174 lawyers, according to the firm's website.

Kirkland also recently added litigation partner Jeremy Fielding as a partner in Dallas. He focuses on complex commercial litigation and trials and came from trial boutique Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst.

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