Maura L. Hughes
Attorney Profile
Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in Cleveland, OH
Selected to Rising Stars: 2005
Maura Hughes is a Partner and Co-Chair of Calfee's Litigation Group. She also leads the firm's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Counseling and Litigation Group. Maura's legal practice focuses on complex business litigation, antitrust litigation and antitrust and trade regulation counseling.
Clients in a wide range of industries trust Maura’s litigation and antitrust experience to help them resolve disputes and problems that can adversely impact their businesses. Whether handling corporate or antitrust litigation, counseling a client regarding its pricing or dealer relationships, or advising as to the competition implications of an acquisition, Maura brings a solution-oriented approach to her diverse clients’ benefit.
Maura's experience encompasses all aspects of litigation, including pretrial discovery, depositions, significant trial experience in both Ohio and federal courts as well as international arbitration forums and appellate briefing and argument in Ohio Courts of Appeals, the Ohio Supreme Court, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Maura’s work in the area of antitrust and trade regulation has included both litigation and client counseling on the Sherman Act, Robinson-Patman Act and state antitrust law. Her antitrust work includes handling federal filings and associated investigations under the Hart-Scott Rodino Act, as well as counseling clients regarding the antitrust implications of potential acquisitions. Maura regularly advises clients with respect to the antitrust and competition law risks associated with minimum resale or advertised pricing programs. She has extensive experience in assisting clients in developing and implementing antitrust compliance programs, including education of executives and employees.
Maura has been ranked by Chambers USA 2020 as a "Leading Lawyer" in Antitrust in Ohio (Band 2). "The 'fantastic' Maura Hughes is a 'very accomplished litigator and counselor,' according to sources, who speak highly of her antitrust expertise. She regularly advises clients on compliance with state and federal antitrust laws and has notable experience in handling investigations into alleged price fixing and anticompetitive behavior." – Chambers USA 2020.
Benchmark Litigation named Maura a "Local Litigation Star – Ohio" in the areas of Competition/Antitrust and General Commercial (2019-2021). Maura was selected for inclusion to The Best Lawyers in America© in the areas of Commercial Litigation and Litigation — Antitrust (2021), Ohio Super Lawyers (2012-2021), and has been named to the “Top 25 Women Lawyers” in Cleveland and the “Top 50 Women Lawyers” in Ohio rankings by Super Lawyers.
Maura was named a 2018 “Notable Woman in Law” by Crain’s Cleveland Business, recognizing her as one of the most influential women leaders practicing in Northeast Ohio law firms. Maura was awarded the “YWCA Woman of Excellence” award in 2011, which recognizes the contributions of exceptional women within their organization.
Maura is a past Chair of the Antitrust Section Council of the Ohio State Bar Association.
For several years, Maura has served on the Board of Trustees of the Art Therapy Studio in Cleveland, where she is a former President of the Board. Since 2008, she has been a Director of The Music Settlement in Cleveland, where she served as Chair of the Board of Directors from 2014-2017.
Maura often speaks at seminars on the national, state, and local levels on topics of antitrust counseling and litigation and the ethical obligations of attorneys. She has taught as adjunct faculty at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Arizona State University College of Law in the areas of appellate advocacy and lawyering theory and practice.
Maura served as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aldrich of the Northern District of Ohio before joining Calfee in 1994.
In 1999, she was awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by the American Inns of Court and spent three months at the Inns of Court in London, England. In 2002, Maura was named as a fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation.
Maura serves as Calfee’s General Counsel and ethics partner and counsels colleagues with respect to the Rules of Professional Responsibility and risk management issues. She became a partner at Calfee in 2003, and she was elected to the firm's Management Committee in 2019.
Top Lists
- Top 100: 2022 Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2022 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2022 Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2022 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2021 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2021 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2020 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2020 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2019 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2019 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2018 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2018 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2017 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2017 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2016 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2016 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2015 Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2015 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2015 Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2015 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2014 Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2014 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2014 Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2014 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2013 Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2013 Women Ohio Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2013 Cleveland Super Lawyers
- Top 25: 2013 Women Cleveland Super Lawyers
About Maura L. Hughes
First Admitted: 1993, Ohio
Professional Webpage: https://www.calfee.com/professionals-maura-l-hughes
Verdicts/Settlements
- Representing as lead counsel U.S. and foreign subsidiaries of a multi-national corporation in a federal MDL class action alleging an international price-fixing cartel
- Serving as lead counsel in the trial and appeal, and obtaining a multi-million-dollar verdict, for an Ohio municipality seeking return of overcharges from a state agency
- Defending a large health insurer in class action litigation arising from payments made by its plan customers
- Obtaining for a multi-national corporate client a $10 million judgment before an arbitration panel of the International Chamber of Commerce, successfully asserting contract claims under a foreign supply agreement
- Successfully representing the U.S. subsidiary of a multi-national manufacturer in an international arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce on contract claims valued over $50 million arising from the dissolution of a longstanding joint venture
- Representing a health insurer in litigation in connection with contract claims and counterclaims of multi-million-dollar healthcare fraud by a provider and obtaining a favorable settlement with no financial liability on the part of the client
- Acting as lead counsel and successfully defending a financial services client in an action for accountant malpractice
- Designing and implementing antitrust compliance education programs for several clients in highly concentrated industries
- Serving as lead counsel during a DOJ merger clearance investigation for an acquiring party purchasing a major competitor in the aviation industry, obtaining clearance for the transaction, and avoiding a Second Request
- Serving as lead counsel before the FTC in a merger clearance investigation in a billion-dollar transaction in the food industry and obtaining clearance without a Second Request
- Serving as counsel for individual employees involved as material witnesses in connection with criminal antitrust investigations
- Counseling clients and reaching out on their behalf to the Agencies with concerns regarding the acquisition activity of competitors
- Representing many public and private companies in successful Hart-Scott Rodino filings
- Serving as second-chair trial counsel in a three-month antitrust trial involving an alleged Sherman Act conspiracy
Bar/Professional Activity
- Ohio
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Antitrust Section Council of the Ohio State Bar Association, Former Chair
- Ohio State Bar Foundation, Fellow, 2021
- Law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aldrich of the Northern District of Ohio, 1994
Representative Clients
- Medical Mutual of Ohio
Educational Background
- J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1993
- A.B., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Brown University, 1990
Honors/Awards
- Antitrust, Band 2, Chambers USA, 2020
- Local Litigation Star – Ohio, Competition/Antitrust, General Commercial, Benchmark Litigation, 2021
- Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Antitrust, The Best Lawyers in America©, 2021
- Top 25 Women Lawyers in Cleveland List (2013-2021); Top 50 Women Lawyers in Ohio List (2013-2021), Ohio Super Lawyers, 2021
- Notable Woman in Law, Crain's Cleveland Business, 2018
- YWCA Woman of Excellence Award, YWCA, 2011
- Pegasus Scholarship, American Inns of Court, 1999
Pro bono/Community Service
- Art Therapy Studio in Cleveland, Member of the Board of Directors and Former Board President, 2021
- The Music Settlement in Cleveland, Member of the Board of Directors and Former Board Chair (2014-2017), 2021
Industry Groups
- Banking
- Financial Services
- Food And Beverage
- Government
- Health Care
- Insurance
- International
- Manufacturing And Industrial
- Private and Family-Owned Businesses
- Public Companies
- Retail And Consumer Products
Additional Sources of Information About Maura L. Hughes
Visit my FindLaw® profile
Last Updated: 5/15/2022