Kellie Lerner

Managing Partner

Kellie Lerner is a nationally recognized antitrust lawyer who is regularly sought out by individuals and businesses to solve their most complicated antitrust problems. For nearly 25 years, Kellie has primarily devoted her practice to all facets of competition law. She is a leading voice on antitrust issues and has served at the highest levels of leadership in national professional and advocacy associations dedicated to the field of competition law. 

Chambers USA recommends Kellie as “a brilliant tactician and a fierce litigator.” A teambuilder by nature, she has been praised as someone “who mixes vision and skill with respect” and who can “get large teams of people to work effectively together.” Kellie’s inclusive leadership has yielded historic results in a variety of industries, with notable depth of experience in health care, where she has successfully tackled unlawful price fixing, market allocation and monopolization violations. 

Kellie is particularly adept at identifying new antitrust actions, initiating antitrust class action lawsuits that have ultimately held antitrust violators accountable for billions of dollars in settlements. Chambers USA hails her as a “trendsetter in taking on difficult and innovative cases” and Legal 500 commends her “superior intellect, determination and political savvy in getting the job done.” 

Kellie also advises companies in a variety of industries, including technology, alternative energy and entertainment, on pressing antitrust issues that involve regulation, compliance and affirmative litigation. 

  • In re Merck Mumps Vaccine Antitrust Litigation. Co-lead counsel representing health care payers who allege a decade-long scheme to maintain an unlawful monopoly in the market for the mumps vaccine.

  • In re Passenger Vehicle Replacement Tires Antitrust Litigation. Co-lead counsel on behalf of direct purchasers alleging a conspiracy to fix the prices of passenger vehicle replacement tires.

  • In re Axon VIEVU Antitrust Litigation. Co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of direct purchasers of conducted energy devices, body-worn cameras and related accessories and services.

  • In re Fragrance End-User Plaintiff Antitrust Litigation. Co-lead counsel on behalf of a class of consumers and businesses that purchased consumer products or household goods, not for resale, which contained fragrance products that were manufactured by defendants.

  • BCBSM, Inc. v. Vyera Pharmaceuticals, LLC et al.: Kellie obtained a settlement valued at $28 million on behalf of a class of third-party payers who alleged that Martin Shkreli and his former companies illegally monopolized the market for the life-saving drug Daraprim.*

  • In re Florida Cancer Antitrust Litigation. Kellie obtained a seven-figure settlement against a Florida cancer treatment center and its president for an alleged conspiracy to allocate markets of oncology services in southwest Florida.*

  • Insulate SB, Inc. v. Advanced Finishing Systems, Inc. Kellie obtained a dismissal with prejudice at the district court and on appeal as lead counsel for fluid-handling equipment manufacturer Graco Inc. in a putative nationwide antitrust class action alleging unlawful business acquisitions and boycott, exclusive-dealing and monopolization conspiracies.*

  • In re Abbott Labs Norvir Antitrust Litigation. $10 million settlement stemming from Abbott Laboratories’ price increase of Norvir, which provides for a payment to nonprofit organizations serving individuals with HIV.*

  • In re TriCor Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation. $65.7 million settlement for claims that the price charged for TriCor was inflated because of anticompetitive conduct, including product hopping, to unlawfully suppress generic competition.*

  • In re Flat Glass II Litigation. Over $22 million settlement on behalf of direct purchasers of construction flat glass.*

  • In re Puerto Rican Cabotage Antitrust Litigation. $52 million settlement for an alleged conspiracy to fix the prices of ocean freight services between the continental United States and Puerto Rico.*

*Result obtained prior to joining SCL

Bar Admissions

New Jersey

New York

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Second Circuit Court of Appeals

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Third Circuit Court of Appeals

District of New Jersey

Southern District of New York

Education

Rutgers Law School, J.D., dean’s merit scholar (2003)

Rutgers University, B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa (1999)

Lawdragon, 500 Leading Litigators in America (2023-2025)

Lawdragon, 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America (2024)

Chambers USA, Antitrust — Mainly Plaintiff, New York (2018-2024)

Euromoney, Antitrust and Competition Lawyer of the Year (2023)

AAI and COSAL, Hollis Salzman Memorial Leadership Award (2022)

Who’s Who Legal, Leading Competition Plaintiff Lawyer (2022)

Crain’s New York Business, Notable Diverse Leader in Law (2022)

Benchmark Litigation, Litigation Star (2022-2024)

Benchmark Litigation, Future Star (2016-2021)

The Legal 500, Leading Lawyer (2021-2022)

The Legal 500, Recommended (2013-2020)

Global Competition Review, Woman in Antitrust (2021)

Crain’s New York Business, Notable Woman in Law (2020-2021)

New York Law Journal, Distinguished Leader (2020)

Who’s Who Legal, Competition (2020)

New York Law Journal, New York Trailblazer (2019)

The National Law Journal, Elite Woman of the Plaintiff’s Bar (2019)

Media Mentions

Antitrust zeal to morph but won’t fade under next president,” Bloomberg Law (Nov. 1, 2024)

Klobuchar reintroduces bill to promote competition and improve antitrust enforcement,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., news release (May 16, 2024)

Antitrust cases and issues to watch in 2024,” Law360 (Jan. 1, 2024)

Body cam prices too high? New class actions bring antitrust claims,” New Jersey Law Journal (Oct. 17, 2023)

Second US town sues Taser-maker Axon for antitrust violations,” Reuters (Oct. 5, 2023)

The biggest antitrust developments so far in 2023,” Law360 (July 25, 2023)

“Biden enforcers employ never-lose strategy,” The Deal (March 30, 2023)

FTC warns Amazon over One Medical buy but lets deal pass,” Law360 (Feb. 22, 2023)

Antitrust conduct issues and cases to watch in 2023,” Law360 (Jan. 2, 2023)

Biggest developments in antitrust conduct cases in 2022,” Law360 (Dec. 21, 2022)

Meta buy challenge from FTC targets future harm to competition,” Bloomberg Law (July 29, 2022)

Lina Khan is rewriting the FTC’s rulebook,” Law360 (Feb. 9, 2022)

Cargill ruffles poultry consolidation feathers in Washington,” The Deal (Oct. 21, 2021)

Merging cos. incorporating FTC’s ‘at own risk’ warnings,” Law360 (Sept. 14, 2021)

Transgender prisoner sues Virginia Department of Corrections over denial of surgery,” Metro Weekly (Aug. 26, 2021)

Biden’s antitrust policies won’t depart entirely from Trump’s,” Law360 (Aug. 23, 2021)

How new antitrust bills may disrupt big tech,” Yahoo Finance (June 14, 2021)

“First class action filed over Shkreli’s price hike of Daraprim,” Global Competition Review (March 5, 2021)

“Shkreli, former company face insurer class action over price hike,” Reuters (March 4, 2021)

“Blue Cross of Minnesota lawsuit takes aim at ‘Pharma Bro,’” The Minneapolis Star Tribune (March 4, 2021)

“‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli, Vyera targeted in private class action stemming from drug price hike,” New York Law Journal (March 4, 2021)

“Minnesota Blues plan sues Shkreli, others for illegal pricing of Daraprim,” Managed Healthcare Executive (March 4, 2021)

Speeches & Events

“Massive data discovery and disputes” panel, American Antitrust Institute CLE Lunch & Learn virtual event (July 25, 2024)

“Discovery has started, how and when do I involve my experts?” panel,
American Antitrust Institute CLE Lunch & Learn virtual event (April 17, 2024)

“Hot button issues in class action litigation,” American Bar Association spring meeting (April 11, 2024)

Testimony before the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules concerning the potential impact of Proposed Rule 16.1’s designation of coordinating counsel and other provisions on class action MDL procedure, (Feb. 6, 2024)

“Class action litigation 2023,” Practising Law Institute (Dec. 8, 2023)

“Roundtable on the DOJ leniency program,” American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section (Nov. 16, 2023)

“Now I filed my complaint — what can I do as I wait for the inevitable motion to dismiss?” panel, American Antitrust Institute CLE Lunch & Learn virtual event (Oct. 25, 2023)

“Crafting an antitrust complaint — the necessary building blocks & more” panel, CLE Lunch & Learn virtual event (July 18, 2023)

“Investigating a new antitrust case” panel, American Antitrust Institute CLE Lunch & Learn virtual event (May 17, 2023)

“The 50th Anniversary Milton Handler lecture on antitrust” panel, New York City Bar Association (May 25, 2023)

“Where the action is in class actions,” American Bar Association antitrust law spring meeting (March 30, 2023)

“Certifiable? Navigating class actions today,” American Bar Association  antitrust law spring meeting (April 6, 2022)

“Next generation of antitrust, data privacy and data protection scholars” conference, New York University School of Law and American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section (Jan. 28, 2022)

“Should the antitrust laws be used to promote societal change? An exploration of the intersection between antitrust enforcement and the promotion of environment and societal welfare,”
moderator, New York State Bar Association annual meeting, webinar (Jan. 24, 2022)

“Leading voices in private enforcement: Insights on bringing and litigating successful antitrust cases” panel, Private Antitrust Enforcement virtual conference (Nov. 12, 2020)

“Are you down with APP (algorithmic pricing),” American Bar Association webinar (Nov. 3, 2020)

“A conversation with women in government antitrust enforcement,” moderator, New York Women in Antitrust Group panel (May 28, 2020)

“Noerr-Pennington immunity and ‘sham’ petitioning developments in the pharmaceutical industry,” New York State Bar Association, (April 9, 2019)

Professional Associations

American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section
(Articles Editor, Antitrust Magazine)

The Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws
(President)

Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
(Advisory Board Member)

New York Bar Foundation
(Fellow)

New York State Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section
(Finance Officer and Executive Committee Member)

New York Women in Antitrust Group
(Co-Chair)

Community Service

Jewish Community Project
(Board Member, 2014-2018)

Jumpstart for Young Children
(Advisory Board Member, 2014-present)

Kids in Need of Defense

Lambda Legal

Roseanne’s Gift
(Founder, raised $100,000 for lung cancer research grant given to Weill Cornell Medicine on behalf of my late mother)

“Emerging trends in New York class action litigation — standing,” Chambers and Partners Collective Redress & Class Actions Trends and Developments (Feb. 26, 2024)

“A perfect storm: Health care consolidation and the lack of antitrust enforcement,” Antitrust Magazine (summer 2020)

“No-Poachers find themselves in hot water,” Bloomberg Law (Aug. 29, 2018)

“Judges can demand diversity in Rule 23(g) applications,” Law360 (Aug. 15, 2018)

Partners