They’ve Got Next: Antitrust Fresh Face Christina Ma

Christina Ma’s summer associate work at Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz left such an impression on the firm’s partners that it resulted in a revision of a long-standing recruiting practice.

The firm generally hadn’t invited back first-year law school summer associates for a second summer. “But I really urged a change of that [practice] just so we could maximize the opportunity to convince Christina to join us—which she did,” said Nelson Fitts, an antitrust partner at Wachtell.

Since Ma permanently joined the firm in 2013, Ma has been on a rapid ascent. The 34-year-old St. Louis-area native, who is now based in New York, was named partner late last year in Wachtell’s antitrust department, becoming only the second Asian-American woman in the firm to become partner.

On her path to promotion, she has worked with corporate clients—including TD Ameritrade, Sysco Corp. and Truist Financial Corp.—that had dealt with antitrust regulators or were completing mergers and acquisitions.

“As an economics and public policy undergrad, I should have realized that antitrust may be of interest to me, but it was my interview at Wachtell that really sold me on trying an antitrust rotation,” said Ma, who received her bachelor’s degree at Brown University and her J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Despite Wachtell’s interest in bringing her back permanently after two summer stints, Ma chose to first clerk for Judge Amalya L. Kearse at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It was a position she deemed a “capstone experience” that rounded out her law degree.

“I think Judge Kearse instilled in me a certain appreciation for the written word and for making sure that anything you write down cannot be misconstrued or misinterpreted,” said Ma.

When Ma rejoined Wachtell as an associate back in 2013, she was paired with two partners to work on Sysco’s attempt to pay $8.2 billion to acquire US Foods Inc. Sysco abandoned the deal in 2015 after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request for preliminary injunction over the agency’s competition concerns.

Despite her client’s setback, Ma’s comprehensive involvement through the proceedings solidified her commitment to antitrust law, she said.

“This was a particularly big merger, so I was working with two partners. But it was really a phenomenal learning experience for so many reasons,” Ma said.

“I was having conversations with the business leads running Sysco’s warehouses, learning all about food distribution. And in the end, I got to be part of a really high-energy trial, which is also rare,” she added.

Ma’s total commitment in handling the complex Sysco-US Foods deal made a lasting impression on the partners who had lead work on the case.

“For a young lawyer to be thrown into a matter like that is really a crucible,” Damian Didden, an antitrust partner at Wachtell said. “It proved that she was able to handle that kind of pressure and complexity.”

Ma has since worked on paint-maker Sherwin-Williams’s $11 billion acquisition of the Valspar Corp. in 2017, as well as BB&T Corp.'s $66 billion acquisition of SunTrust Banks in 2019.

Ma also worked with TD Ameritrade’s strategic development committee in the financial company’s 2020 deal to be acquired by Charles Schwab Corp. for $26 billion.

The Justice Department eventually approved the deal. And Ma’s fearlessness in tackling issues in the complex world of banking “blew away the clients,” Didden recalled.

“The partners really put a lot of trust in me to make big decisions, and it was the first time I felt the pressure to make decisions like a partner,” Ma said.

Despite her work successes, Ma said she had to work through doubts about her appointment as partner and how others would perceive her promotion.

“It’s probably all my own fault, but I felt imposter syndrome because I wondered if I got this because I’m an Asian female coming up in Big Law at a time when there is a lot of discussion around elevating women and women of color into leadership.”

But she is quick to emphasize that she never encountered any “marginalizing experiences” with Wachtell colleagues.

Ma was officially voted partner in November of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic while her office was still closed.

“I think she will be the future of the department,” said David Neill, of counsel at Wachtell.

Her work ethic derives largely from her parents, Ma said. “I had a full appreciation for all the sacrifices my parents made and that instilled in me the need to work hard and take advantage of every opportunity that I had to succeed,” said Ma, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from China in the late 1970s.

The promotion occurred while she and her husband, Ryan Mott, were preparing to welcome their third child. She said the firm has been supportive while her family expanded.

“I certainly never felt like it was taking away from my ability to move up at the firm,” she said.

Ma, who is currently on family leave, also credits her success to her husband, who stepped away from his job at Venable LLP in March 2020 to care for their children full-time during the pandemic.

“Throughout my entire career he’s been supportive and encouraged me to excel,” Ma said. “It would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for me to do what I needed to without the willingness and support of my spouse.”