LCA Senior Fellow Meryl Macklin Elected 2022-2023 Chair of the LCA's Complex Commercial Litigation Institute

The Complex Commercial Litigation Institute (CCLI) of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA) is pleased to announce that Meryl Macklin, of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, in San Francisco, California, has been named 2022-2023 Chair. The mission of the CCLI is to provide a forum to (i) share and develop best practices in litigating and trying complex commercial cases; (ii) share specialized expertise; (iii) provide a nationwide resource for local procedural and substantive knowledge; and (iv) engage in the education of complex litigation practitioners through speaking engagements and publications.

Meryl has been a trial lawyer for over 30 years, with extensive experience trying and resolving complex business disputes. She has served as lead trial counsel for clients ranging from major corporations to small startups in dozens of high-exposure cases in state and federal courts around the country, and regularly practices in both Northern and Southern California.

Meryl co-leads the firm’s M&A Disputes group and her practice has recently focused on merger and acquisition-related disputes and trade secrets disputes. Her M&A dispute practice includes experience with indemnification claims, breaches of representations and warranties, pre-closing disputes, rep and warranty insurance disputes, and earnouts. Meryl often teams with corporate attorneys to resolve these disputes and to consult on relevant language in underlying agreements. Her trade secrets dispute practice has included cases on the plaintiff and defense side, in federal and state courts, and in arbitration.

Her trial experience has enabled Meryl to develop targeted litigation strategies even when handling cases likely to settle, avoiding unnecessary and costly motion and discovery practice where possible. Her practice focuses not only on defending companies in litigation but also on counseling clients on ways to quickly resolve disputes. She is a strong team leader, with proven success partnering with clients and other professionals to accomplish results.

She previously served as the Chair of the Litigation Department of legacy firm HRO and a member of legacy firm HRO’s Executive Committee. Prior to joining Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, Meryl was a partner at law firms in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Meryl is a member of the Northern District of California Mediation Panel and serves as mediator for all types of commercial disputes. She attended mediation training at the Harvard Negotiation Project.

Her educational background includes a B.A., manga cum laude, from Yale University and J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to being a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, Meryl has been named among the top women lawyers in California by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal. Meryl splits her time between San Francisco and Pittsburgh.