Jane Willis

Jane E. Willis is co-chair of the Litigation and Enforcement practice group. A seasoned trial lawyer, she focuses her practice on antitrust matters and complex business litigation, including in large part, matters for health care and life sciences clients. In addition to merger review matters before the antitrust agencies, she is experienced in merger and acquisition disputes.

Jane was named the Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” for Antitrust in Boston in 2018 and 2019. Jane also has a Chambers Band 1 ranking. According to the 2018 edition of Chambers USA: Jane Willis “balances technicalities of the law with practicalities of business,” according to one client, while another describes her as “a terrific attorney, extraordinarily responsive, very smart and a quick study.”

As lead counsel, Jane represents a wide range of clients including health care systems, publicly-traded companies, real estate investment trusts, and private equity funds. Her health care and life sciences client list includes non-profit and for–profit hospitals and health care systems, academic medical centers, medical device companies, biotech companies, managed care companies, senior living providers, and large physician practices.

In addition to health care, Jane has handled antitrust matters for a range of industries including consumer electronics, consumer products, sports, and transportation.

As a part of her antitrust practice, Jane has represented many clients, including health care and medical device clients, in mergers and acquisitions subject to antitrust merger review and investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission. Together with her colleagues, Jane coordinates pre-merger filings globally for multi-national transactions.

Jane has been interviewed for her antitrust experience by various publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Legal Times, National Law Journal, Competition Law 360, Health Law 360, Modern Healthcare, Reuters, Associated Press, and Bloomberg News Services.

EDUCATION :

• JD, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1994
• BA (Applied Mathematics), Harvard University, 1991; Phi Beta Kappa

ADMISSIONS :

• New York
• Massachusetts
• District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. Tax Court

CLERKSHIPS : Honorable Robert E. Keeton, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1994 – 1995)

PROFESSIONAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES :

• Boston Bar Foundation, Co-Chair of the Society of Fellows (2010-2015)
• Boston Bar Foundation, Board of Trustees (2008-2014)
• Boston Bar Foundation, Adams Ball Co-Chair (2010)
• Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (Trustee, 2010-2015)
• Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (Director, 2007-2012)

Experience :

• Boston Children’s Hospital.  Successfully defeated three preliminary injunction attempts, and successfully defeated a challenge to a determination of need, brought by opponents of a much needed modernization and expansion project to build, among other things, a state-of-the-art NICU and heart center at Boston Children’s Hospital.
• TravelCenters of America. Lead counsel for Fortune 500 Company in multiple litigation and arbitration matters, including federal antitrust litigation, multi-district consumer class actions for 28 states, and a successful trial against a card issuer in Delaware Chancery Court.
• Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare. Lead counsel in successful appeal on behalf of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of decision by Division of Insurance resulting in overturning rate caps and price controls.
• HealthSouth Litigation. First-chair trial counsel for a publicly traded REIT in a successful trial against HealthSouth involving the ownership of certain rehabilitation hospitals.
• Daewoo International. Successfully obtained dismissal for Korean company named as a defendant in a class action antitrust case arising out of an alleged international cartel.
• Hitachi-LG Data Storage. Co-lead counsel for a Korean-Japanese joint venture in defending antitrust class actions alleging price-fixing in the optical disk drive industry. Successfully defeated a class certification motion filed by direct purchaser and indirect purchaser plaintiffs.
• Boston Red Sox. First-chair trial counsel in a successful trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and first chair counsel in a preliminary injunction proceeding in U.S. District Court to ensure the establishment of an entertainment concourse on game days on Yawkey Way near Fenway Park.