Megan Donohue

Megan Donohue is an experienced litigator with a focus on complex business litigation, class actions, and advertising and media. She represents clients in many different industries, both small start-ups and industry leaders, including pharmaceuticals, consumer products, healthcare, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and digital media. She has successfully defended numerous class action and advertising challenges, often involving emerging technologies and business models.

Megan also counsels clients on advertising claims and their substantiation, to help clients avoid litigation challenges as they grow their business. She also advises on issues, like privacy and trade secret problems, that threaten client’s innovations. 

Megan's representations include:

• Representing Chicago Title Company, defending allegations in multiple state and federal actions, alleging the company's employees aided and abetted a complex Ponzi fraud, involving more than $400 million dollars and hundreds of individual investors.
• Defended numerous nationwide consumer class actions and California consumer class actions alleging false and deceptive advertising under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law;
• Represented Facebook and Instagram in numerous privacy based class action victories, which supported Law360’s selection of Cooley as Privacy Practice of the Year.
• Advises internet, technology, and consumer product companies on advertising challenges, including bringing and defending false advertising claims under the Lanham Act, state unfair competition laws, and defending claims at the National Advertising Division. For example, she defended Dollar Shave Club’s break-through internet ads in dispute before the National Advertising Division.
• Successfully represented pharmaceutical company in Lanham Act and state unfair competition challenge against manufacturer of unapproved drug products, clearing market for FDA-approved products
• Represents internet and technology start-ups in trade secret and non-competition disputes.
• Represented the children and estate of Junior Seau in lawsuit against the National Football League.
• Obtained unanimous jury verdict in favor of Ernest Rady, a prominent San Diego business leader and philanthropist, in lawsuit by several family members seeking $272 million in damages over a family-owned corporation.
• Represented class of unaccompanied alien children pro-bono, challenging due process and statutory violations while the children are detained by the Dep’t of Homeland Security. Filed amicus brief in support of successful injunction of child separation policy at the Southern Border.

Publications

• FAQs on the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 – Part 1: The Basics, cyber/data/privacy insights August 2, 2018

Honors

• University of San Diego School of Law – 2018 Rising Star Alumni Award