
Jacklin Chou Lem
Partner
Practice Areas
Jacklin (Jackie) Chou Lem is a Partner and accomplished antitrust lawyer based in our San Francisco office. She had a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Justice, where her portfolio spanned the breadth of civil and criminal antitrust enforcement. She advises clients on merger clearance, cartel investigations, and high-stakes litigation, bringing deep government insight and a practical, strategic approach to managing antitrust risk.
Jacklin Chou Lem
Partner
Practice Areas
Jacklin (Jackie) Chou Lem is a Partner and accomplished antitrust lawyer based in our San Francisco office. She had a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Justice, where her portfolio spanned the breadth of civil and criminal antitrust enforcement. She advises clients on merger clearance, cartel investigations, and high-stakes litigation, bringing deep government insight and a practical, strategic approach to managing antitrust risk.

Before entering private practice, Jackie served as the Civil Chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office. Under her leadership, she formalized and expanded the office’s civil program, launching a wide range of civil antitrust litigation, merger reviews, and investigations of anticompetitive conduct. She directed office-wide strategic planning, supervised attorney recruitment and development, and regularly advised senior DOJ leadership, including the Assistant Attorney General.
During her 17-year tenure at the DOJ, Jackie also served as Assistant Chief and lead Trial Attorney. She led criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions involving global price-fixing cartels, domestic bid-rigging conspiracies, public procurement fraud, monopolization, unlawful restraints, and anticompetitive mergers. She pioneered breakthrough cases charging defendants with criminal monopolization offenses and was a founding member of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force. In addition to her casework, she played a key role in agency-wide initiatives, including revising the Antitrust Division’s leniency policy and frequently asked questions.
Jackie’s litigation experience includes some of the Antitrust Division’s most high-profile matters—from challenging major technology firms in merger and monopolization cases to prosecuting complex international conspiracies. As a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of California, she also tried multi-defendant white-collar fraud cases before federal juries. For her leadership and impact, Jackie was awarded the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, one of the Department’s highest honors, in recognition of her work as lead prosecutor of a price-fixing cartel carried out for over fifteen years in multiple countries and continents across the globe.
A frequent speaker at national and international antitrust conferences, she has trained enforcement officials globally through her work with the International Competition Network and other organizations. Jackie began her legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel in the Northern District of California, and she joined the Department of Justice through the prestigious Attorney General’s Honors Program.
Jackie is a graduate, with distinction, of Stanford Law School and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Experience
Government
- Supervised investigation and litigation challenging merger of technology companies that provide computer networking services
- Supervised investigation and litigation alleging major technology company’s monopolization of smartphone devices
- Investigated and filed civil complaint against leading technology company alleging monopolization of digital advertising technologies
- Led prosecution of twelve defendants in price-fixing, market allocation, monopolization, and extortion case involving activity at the U.S.-Mexico border
- Led prosecution of eight companies and ten individuals in global capacitors price-fixing cartel case, obtaining over $150 million in criminal fines and multiple guilty pleas
- Led prosecution of four companies and five individuals in international aftermarket auto lights price-fixing conspiracy case, obtaining nearly $50 million in criminal fines and multiple guilty pleas
Education
- JD – with distinction, Stanford University
- Ph.D – Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- BA, BS – Economics and Mathematics, highest honors, The University of Texas at Austin
Admissions
- California
Quotes
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Chambers USA
Axinn is one of the most respected antitrust firms, and its reputation is well deserved.
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