Meghan Doherty Named 2026 Government Contracts Rising Star by Law360

Law360’s Rising Star awards recognize attorneys under age 40 for significant achievements early in their careers. Doherty was selected from more than 1,100 nominations submitted by 90 law firms across 35 practice areas.

Doherty is a member of Pillsbury’s Government Contracts & Disputes practice, which Law360 named a “Practice Group of the Year” in 2025. The practice also received the recognition in 2019, 2017 and 2016. In addition, since her elevation to Pillsbury’s partnership in 2024, Doherty has also been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers as a “One to Watch” for Administrative/Regulatory Law.

Doherty represents government contractors in high-stakes litigation and compliance matters, as well as on the regulatory aspects of mergers, acquisitions and other strategic transactions. An experienced bid protest attorney, she has handled matters resulting in more than 100 published decisions before the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In her Law360 profile, Doherty highlighted her recent role as lead government contracts attorney on a Pillsbury team that advised HEICO Corporation in connection with an agreement by its Electronic Technologies Group to acquire Axillon Aerospace’s Fuel Containment Business from affiliates of SK Capital Partners LP. Because HEICO prevailed in a competitive bidding process, Doherty and her team worked on an expedited timeline to complete the transaction.

Doherty, in her interview, explained that transactions involving defense contractors inherently require diligence across a range of national security, defense and compliance matters.

“That makes the role of the government contracts team crucial in getting the deal done and requires us to work closely with the business teams to make sure that our priorities are aligned and that everything we recommend makes sense both from a legal compliance perspective and from a business perspective,” she said.

When asked about what motivates her, Doherty—who has spent her entire career at Pillsbury— pointed to the firm’s government contracts team.

“Pillsbury has a wonderful government contracts team,” she said. “I would say that’s really what motivates me to keep doing good work and to keep growing our group.”

To read the full profile, click here.