Michael Freed

Practice Areas

Antitrust; Securities, Consumer Law; Class Action Litigation.

Career

After leaving the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, where he was a trial and appellate attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (Honors Program), Mr. Freed has engaged in the private practice of law, concentrating in business class action litigation and other complex litigation. He has served as a lead counsel in many prominent antitrust, securities fraud, and consumer fraud class action cases. In the field of Antitrust Litigation, Mr. Freed served as a lead counsel in the Containerboard Antitrust case and obtained a recovery of $354 Million for the Class. In 2018, Mr. Freed received the Jury Verdict Reporter Trial Lawyer Excellence Award for the top business settlement in the Northern District of Illinois for the Containerboard recovery. Mr. Freed currently serves as a lead counsel in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation.

Prior antitrust class actions in which Mr. Freed served as a lead counsel include In re Aftermarket Filters Antitrust Litigation, In re Brand Name Prescription Drugs Antitrust Litigation, In re High Fructose Corn Syrup Antitrust Litigation, In re Linerboard Antitrust Litigation, In re Carbon Dioxide Antitrust Litigation, In re Infant Formula Antitrust Litigation, and In re Ocean Shipping Antitrust Litigation. Mr. Freed has also served as a lead counsel in more than a dozen securities fraud, shareholder derivative, and consumer fraud actions. In all, more than $2 billion has been recovered for plaintiffs and plaintiff classes in cases in which Mr. Freed has served as a lead counsel, including 3

of the largest antitrust class action settlement recoveries in the history of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Professional Memberships

Mr. Freed is a member of the bar of Northern District of Illinois (where he is a member of the Trial Bar) and bars of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Freed has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America by Best Lawyers, an Illinois Super Lawyer by Chicago Magazine, an Illinois Leading Lawyer by the Leading Lawyer’s Network, and one of the top plaintiffs’ antitrust lawyers in Illinois by Chambers and Partners. He has also served on the boards or as a trustee of the Appleseed Foundation and the American Antitrust Institute, both of which are located in the District of Columbia, as well as The Loyola University of Chicago Consumer Law Institute and as a member of the Visiting Alumni Committee of the University of Chicago School of Law.

Personal

Mr. Freed is on the International Board of Governors of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also a Trustee of the Cancer Research Foundation in Chicago.

Education

Awards