Megan C. Church

Megan Cunniff Church is a highly accomplished trial lawyer who represents companies and individuals in high-stakes criminal and regulatory matters and complex civil litigation. She conducts corporate internal investigations in the U.S. and abroad, and she advises clients on crisis and risk management.

As a former federal prosecutor, Ms. Church has extensive experience investigating, litigating, and successfully resolving white collar criminal and regulatory matters. She served as a Deputy Chief of the Financial Crimes section of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where she prosecuted and supervised complex health care fraud, tax fraud, and corporate and financial crimes cases. She also served as a Deputy Chief of the General Crimes section of the U.S. Attorneys Office, where she trained and supervised new prosecutors on federal criminal practice.

In nearly a decade as an Assistant United States Attorney, Ms. Church investigated and prosecuted a wide range of federal crimes, including bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, public corruption, money laundering, narcotics and weapons violations, international drug trafficking, identity theft, cybercrime, embezzlement, human trafficking, and organized crime. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney assigned to the Public Corruption section, Ms. Church prosecuted and convicted numerous public officials and law enforcement officers for fraud, bribery, extortion, and tax offenses, including the former Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools. She also led criminal investigations involving parallel civil proceedings conducted by federal and state civil regulators.

In her white-collar practice at MoloLamken, Ms. Church has conducted corporate and internal investigations of publicly-traded companies, public agencies, and not-for-profit entities. She has represented corporate and government officials in investigations and prosecutions by various U.S. Attorneys Offices, the Department of Justice, inspectors general, Congress, the SEC, the CFTC, FINRA, and other government regulators. In addition to representing targets and subjects in criminal and regulatory investigations, Ms. Church has represented key witnesses during investigations and subsequent trials.
In her civil practice, Ms. Church has represented plaintiffs and defendants in business disputes involving allegations of market manipulation, antitrust violations, regulatory violations, professional malpractice and misconduct, and breach of contract in federal and state courts around the country and in arbitration forums. Ms. Church was trial counsel by O.K. Foods, Inc. approximately four months before trial for one of the defendants in the long-running In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation that is pending in federal court in Chicago. Ms. Church is now the lead counsel for O.K. Foods in that matter, having successfully resolved the class action portions of the litigation. Along with Ken Notter, she also successfully defended an oil futures trader accused of antitrust violations and market manipulation in a putative class action, having him dismissed from the case while the class action moves forward.

Chambers and Partners says that Ms. Church has an amazing reputation and is a versatile lawyer, working across many different industries. Lawdragon named her one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America. Legal 500 recognizes Ms. Church for her white-collar work in cross-border investigations, as well as crisis and risk management. Crains Chicago Business included Ms. Church in its 40 Under 40 list. She has been named a Notable Woman Lawyer and Notable Trial Attorney by Crains Custom Media. Ms. Church has been recognized repeatedly as a leading white collar defense lawyer by publications including Super Lawyers, Leading Lawyers, and Best Lawyers in America. In 2024, Super Lawyers named Ms. Church to its list of Top 50 Women Lawyers in Illinois.

Ms. Church has taught trial advocacy at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She currently serves on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Committee on Character and Fitness.

Ms. Church has tried 20 cases to verdict, and she has briefed and argued nearly a dozen matters in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Previously, Ms. Church was an associate with Baker & McKenzie and with McDermott Will & Emery. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable William J. Bauer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and to the Honorable Joan H. Lefkow of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.