Celebrating Women in Competition: Jill Manning’s Commitment to Progress and Possibility

California Lawyers Association Vice President Jill Manning has never been one to back away from a challenge. From the beginning of her legal career, she has worked to ensure people everywhere have access to justice.

“During my third year of law school, I did an internship at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in the consumer protection section, and it really spoke to me,” she said. “Helping consumers, I thought, was important and I could see myself taking on that role in my legal practice.”

Jill’s legal career took root in consumer protection and grew to encompass securities, employment, healthcare, antitrust, and privacy law — a practice defined by strategic thinking, relentless preparation, and the patience that complex, years-long litigation demands. In litigation spaces that were often male-dominated and intensely competitive, Jill not only held her ground; she thrived.

Last year, she stepped away from litigation and into a new role as a mediator with JAMS, using her decades of courtroom experience to help parties resolve their disputes outside of court. Along the way, she has spoken at dozens of conferences and earned widespread recognition, including being named a Northern California “Super Lawyer” each year from 2020 through 2026, and receiving a “Best in California, Community Service Award” in 2025.

That confidence and command didn’t come overnight. Like many accomplished lawyers, Jill was shaped by mentors who pushed her to work harder, sharpen her instincts, and trust her own voice.

“My mentor from the very beginning is my mother, who raised my brother and me as a single mom and taught us the importance of being a good person and treating people fairly, and that through hard work, anything is possible,” she said. “My mom is a rockstar. She’s just incredible. She is my role model, still to this day.”

Professionally, Jill credits her first boss after law school for shaping her approach to advocacy.

“Alice McInerney, my first boss and former Deputy Chief of the Antitrust Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s office, taught me how to be a strong female advocate without losing your humanity, your patience, and your compassion,” she said. The two remain close friends.

While antitrust and competition remain male-dominated fields, Jill has seen meaningful progress over the past three decades.

“When I started doing this work in the late 1990s, the cases were dominated by men and I was sometimes the only woman in the room,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of progress since then. Women are doing incredible work — leading cases, first chairing trials and rising to the highest ranks at law firms, corporations, the government and the judiciary … That’s been incredibly encouraging to witness.”

Jill celebrates that progress each year through CLA’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Law Section at “Celebrating Women in Competition Law in California,” a panel presentation and networking event she cofounded with Kate Patchen of Covington & Burling in 2017.

She recalls attending women-focused legal events earlier in her career that left her discouraged about the profession’s future. But a conversation before a Section Executive Committee meeting changed her perspective.

“One of the lawyers was recounting her experience representing a client in a very difficult case, which she had just resolved after years of hard work,” Jill said. “The way she was talking about the case was so inspiring that something just clicked in my head. I thought, ‘This is what I want to hear.’”

In that moment, “Celebrating Women” was born. Held just before International Women’s Day each March, the event shines a spotlight on women in the antitrust field who are doing exceptional work and creates space to share their experiences and advice.

“It’s truly one of the most meaningful events that I go to,” Jill said. “Every year I walk away incredibly inspired by the work women are doing in the antitrust field.”

The celebration, she emphasizes, is not just for women.

“Doesn’t everybody want to celebrate women in competition and hear the secrets of their success?”

Thirty years after starting her legal career, Jill is helping ensure the next generation of women in antitrust and consumer protection law sees something different: visibility, opportunity, and community. In doing so, she continues the work she set out to accomplish from the very beginning: expanding access to justice not only for clients but also within the profession itself.