Megan L. Meier

Founding Partner

Megan L. Meier was recently selected as the “Defamation Litigation Lawyer of the Year” by Lawyer Monthly Magazine, and she is one of only ten attorneys to be recognized by Chambers & Partners as among the best in the United States for High Net Worth: Defamation / Reputation Management.  Hailed as “an extraordinary advocate” and “a shaper in her industry,” Megan sued Fox News for defamation over the network’s dangerous disinformation about the 2020 election—litigation that resulted in a $787.5 million settlement and a summary judgment finding that Fox broadcast false claims about election fraud. Megan has racked up high-profile defamation wins for companies, executives, and founders. In partnership with elite crisis PR firms and in-house communications professionals, Megan has also fixed or nixed false stories before they were published and has scored countless corrections and retractions from the national media.

Megan is regularly tapped to speak at conferences and has guest lectured on defamation and media law at the University of Michigan Law School, Harvard Law School, George Washington University School of Media & Public Affairs, University of North Carolina School of Law, William and Mary Law School, and Barnard College.

Megan loves musical theater, cheap white wine, cancelled stand-up comedians, friendships with people across the aisle, and living in the heart of Washington, D.C. with her family and Bernese Mountain Dog, Samson.

Law.com: Dominion Lawyers Launch New Firm, Bringing High Profile Defamation Cases
Ranked in Chambers High Net Worth: Megan Meier 2023

Representative Matters

  • Represents a start-up tech company in trade libel litigation against McDonald’s and its McFlurry machine maker.  

  • Represents the chairman of a private investment firm in libel litigation over a defamatory dossier.

  • Represented Dominion Voting Systems in defamation litigation against Fox News, which resulted in a record-breaking $787.5 million settlement.

  • Negotiated a $16 million defamation settlement for a venture capitalist falsely accused of fraud during a proxy fight. 

  • Scored a public apology and $3.375 million settlement on behalf of a nonprofit foundation and its founder.

  • Won an attorneys’ fee award on behalf of a tech company against a competitor that had defamed the company and misappropriated its trademarks.

  • Prevented national media outlets from publishing countless false and defamatory accusations against companies and executives in manufacturing, healthcare, education, tech, logistics, agriculture, fashion, and nonprofit. 

  • Secured correction of a newspaper’s false accusation that a founder had misled his board.

  • Secured correction of false and defamatory headline about a healthcare company’s outcomes.

  • Secured retraction of newspaper articles falsely accusing an education tech company of usurping local control over education and indoctrinating children with controversial ideas.

  • Secured retraction of newspaper articles mispresenting a healthcare company’s DEI program and services to transgender people.

  • Secured retraction of a bank’s false accusation of insolvency against a pharmaceutical company.

  • Secured retractions and corrections from numerous national media outlets on behalf of a tech company falsely accused of framing a man for murder.

  • Secured retraction of podcaster’s false accusation of pedophilia against an organization’s founders.

  • Secured correction of false accusations in a book about a private equity fund.

  • Secured retraction of a Business Wire press release that included false accusations intended to improperly exert pressure in heated labor negotiations between a company and a union.

Endorsements

“I had the unique opportunity to work with Megan as part of the litigation team representing Dominion Voting Systems. Megan’s knowledge of defamation law is unsurpassed. She combines tenacity as an advocate with savvy insight into human nature, a combination that leads to wise counsel and successful outcomes.” — Rodney Smolla, Author of Law of Defamation

“I’ve spent a career identifying the top 1% of material impact executives that make the difference for the most iconic companies in the world. I hire that same 1% to represent Daversa Partners. Megan Meier is extraordinary and a shaper in her industry. She is intellectually superior, strategic, and fearless, and she sees around corners.” — Paul Daversa, CEO of Daversa Partners

“Megan Meier has been an extraordinary advocate for us in our pursuit of truth and justice. She does not shy away from the hard stuff and is incredibly steadfast and loyal. We are in a much better place as a result of our partnership.” — Ralph Clark, CEO of SoundThinking

“Megan Meier is not only an excellent lawyer from a strictly legal view but her judgment is excellent. That makes the real difference.” — James Finkelstein, Publisher of The Messenger

“Megan is among the finest attorneys it has ever been my privilege to know. In the realm of defamation law, she has no peer. Megan possesses keen strategic insight, intellectual firepower, raw courage, and speed, a rare and valuable combination.” —Leonard Levie, Chairman of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation

Media

Teaching

  • Guest Lecturer, Harvard Law School, Mass Media Law (2024)

  • Guest Lecturer, Barnard College, First Amendment Values (2024)

  • Guest Lecturer, George Washington University School of Media & Public Affairs, Media Law (2024)

  • Guest Lecturer, University of Michigan Law School, . . . versus Donald J. Trump (and Fox News) (2023)

  • Guest Lecturer, William and Mary Law School, Defamation and Disinformation (2023)

  • Instructor, District of Columbia Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Program, Defamation 101

  • Instructor, District of Columbia Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Program, Is that Defamation? Using the Law to Fight Online Attacks

  • Instructor, Clear Law Institute, Bad Press: Fighting Back Against False Media Attacks

Speaking

  • Guest Speaker, Lessons from a Defamation Lawyer, presented by the Media Law Society and the Center for Media Law and Public Policy at the University of North Carolina School of Law (2024)

  • Panelist, Defamation and Related Torts, Practising Law Institute Conference on Communications Law in the Digital Age (2023)

  • Panelist, Ripped from the Headlines: Behind the Scenes with Top Defamation Lawyers, Annual Conference of the National Association of Women Lawyers (2023)

  • Panelist, Can Democracy Survive if the Media Fail?, Renaissance Weekend (2023)

  • Panelist, Defamation Law in the MeToo Era, Fordham University School of Law (2023)

  • Panelist, Rethinking Libel Law in a New Era of Journalism, Task Force on Free Expression in the Digital Age and the Committee on Continuing Legal Education of the New York State Bar Association (2020)

  • Panelist, Cracks in Our Governance: What Can Be Done About Failings and Weaknesses in US Governing Structures, Practices, and Political Culture?, Renaissance Weekend (2023)

  • Moderator, Innovative Lawyer: An Oxymoron? How Legal Institutions, Procedures, and Practice Can Catch Up with Technological, Social, and Political Change, Renaissance Weekend (2023)

Education

  • University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 2008

  • University of Michigan, B.A., With Distinction, 2003

Experience

  • Clare Locke LLP, 2014-2023

  • Kirkland & Ellis LLP, 2008-2014

Admissions

  • District of Columbia

  • Commonwealth of Virginia

  • Illinois

  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

  • United States District Court for the District of Columbia

  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

  • United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia