For her leading role developing the legal strategy for major cases involving monopolization claims, cartels and per se unlawful restraints, and judicial review of negotiated settlements, Mary Helen received an Assistant Attorney General Individual Award of Distinction. The award recognized “[h]er clear writing style, meticulous research techniques, and lucid thinking,” which made her “a natural lead on some of the thorniest matters our appellate program has taken on.” For her work on some of the DOJ Antitrust Division’s most critical merger challenges, she received two Assistant Attorney General Team Awards of Distinction. She also received the Appellate Section’s inaugural John Sherman Award for “exceptional performance and productivity.” 

As counsel on detail to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary, Mary Helen supported the subcommittee with jurisdiction over matters of antitrust, commercial, and administrative law. She worked closely with Committee Members and House and Senate staff on investigations, hearings, and legislation. She selected and prepared witnesses for Committee hearings, drafted proposed legislation and Committee reports and letters, and participated as part of the staff floor team to help ensure House passage of Committee-sponsored legislation.

In private practice, Mary Helen has built a reputation as a formidable appellate advocate for market-leading companies. She has argued significant appellate cases in state and federal courts – including in the D.C., Second, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits – and she has authored more than 100 briefs. She also has second-chaired multiple arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court and authored dozens of Supreme Court briefs for parties and amici, including successful certiorari petitions and merits briefs. She is a member of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Mary Helen was an editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and a member of the moot court and mock trial boards. She clerked for the Honorable Patricia C. Fawsett of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and the Honorable Ronald Lee Gilman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. And she began her career as an appellate and commercial litigator at a global law firm.

Clerkships

• Hon. Ronald Lee Gilman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Law Clerk (2009 – 2010)
• Hon. Patricia C. Fawsett, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Law Clerk (2007 – 2009)