Aidan Synnott

A partner in the Litigation Department and co-chair of the Antitrust Practice Group, Aidan Synnott focuses on antitrust litigation and compliance, intellectual property litigation and other complex commercial litigation.

Experience

Chambers USA describes Aidan as a "'high-class antitrust expert' noted for his responsiveness and strategic decision-making." He has extensive trial experience in state and federal courts as well as in alternative dispute resolution forums such as the American Arbitration Association. In addition, he frequently represents clients in antitrust investigations by the governmental agencies of the United States and the European Union.

Aidan's antitrust litigations representations include:

• The Nielsen Company, the leading provider of television ratings in the United States, in winning summary judgment before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and confirming the victory on appeal to the  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in a monopolization case brought by Sunbeam Television Corp., the FOX affiliate station in Miami. Sunbeam had claimed that Nielsen's rollout of a new ratings measurement methodology was a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Sunbeam Television Corp. v. Nielsen Media Research, Inc., 763 F. Supp.2d 1341 (S.D. Fl. 2011), aff'd, 711 F.3d 1264 (11th Cir. 2013);
• The successful defense of the Dun & Bradstreet, ACNielsen and IMS Inc. in a federal antitrust action brought by a large competitor, obtaining dismissal of the case on a pre-trial motion. Information Resources, Inc. v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 359 F. Supp. 2d 307 (S.D.N.Y. 2004);
• For the New York City Transit Authority, obtaining dismissal of a claim for attempted monopolization of the market for bus simulators. Doron Precision Systems, Inc. v. FAAC, Inc., 423 F. Supp. 2d 173 (S.D.N.Y. 2006);
• Acumen Brands, Inc., a leading retailer of western apparel, in obtaining dismissal, with prejudice, of a monopolization case brought by a competitor. Sell It Social, LLC v. Acumen Brands, Inc., 2015-1 Trade Cases P 79,114 (S.D.N.Y. 2015);
• The defense of Sumitomo Chemical Company, one of the largest chemical companies in the world, in the vitamins price-fixing litigation. He has defended numerous other U.S. and foreign companies in cartel cases; and
• Pfizer Inc. in successful settlements of class and opt-out actions alleging $11 billion in damages for monopolization of the market for Neurontin, a Pfizer pharmaceutical, through an alleged pattern of meritless patent litigations.

Antitrust merger investigation representations Aidan has led include:

• Time Warner Cable in the ongoing Justice Department Second Request investigation of its proposed $78 billion acquisition by Charter Communications as well as in the prior abandoned proposal by Comcast Corporation to acquire it for $45 billion;
• Pace plc in a Justice Department Second Request investigation of its $2.1 billion acquisition by ARRIS Group Inc., where the Justice Department closed its investigation without imposing any conditions;
• Automatic Data Processing in a Second Request investigation by the Justice Department of its $500 million acquisition of a payroll and tax outsourcing competitor, ProBusiness, where the Justice Department closed its investigation without imposing any conditions;
• Hewitt Associates Inc. in a Justice Department investigation of its proposed $4 billion acquisition by Aon, where the Justice Department closed its investigation without imposing any conditions;
• Westcoast Energy in a Justice Department investigation of its $8 billion acquisition by Duke Energy, where the Justice Department closed its investigation without imposing any conditions;
• The Nielsen Company in the FTC Second Request investigation of its proposed $1.25 billion acquisition of Arbitron, Inc., where the acquisition was approved in a consent decree which Aidan negotiated and which imposed minimal conditions;
• Fidelity National Financial in the FTC Second Request investigation of its $3 billion acquisition of a title insurance competitor, Lender Processing Services, Inc., which was approved in a consent decree which Aidan negotiated and which required minimal divestitures.

Aidan's IP and other non-antitrust litigation representations  include:

• A class of music publishers in their litigation against Napster, in which the publishers obtained an injunction against distribution of their musical works by Napster. The injunction was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 284 F.3d 1091 (9th Cir. 2002);
• A class of music publishers in the Grokster case, in which the music publishers ultimately prevailed before the U.S. Supreme Court. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Inc., 125 S. Ct. 2764 (2005);
• A class of music publishers in their litigations against MP3.com and Scour.net, both of which were settled favorably;
• The National Music Publishers' Association, Inc. (NMPA), the Songwriters Guild of America and the Nashville Songwriters Association International in a trial in the Library of Congress resulting in the setting of advantageous new rates and terms for the mechanical license under Section 115 of the Copyright Act;
• Digital Equipment Corporation in connection with its patent litigation against Intel Corporation, which lead to a settlement worth $1 billion to Digital;
• The successful defense of Pitney Bowes Inc. in a shareholder class action attempt to enjoin its acquisition of Group One Software;
• One of the largest container leasing companies in the world in a litigation against its insurance carriers, which was settled on favorable terms. He obtained dismissal of a securities class action against the same client before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey;
• The Nielsen Company in achieving the full dismissal and affirmance on appeal of multiple claims brought by New Delhi Television Company, an Indian broadcasting company, claiming corruption in the provision of TV ratings in India by a joint venture partly owned by Nielsen. Justice O. Peter Sherwood of the New York State Supreme Court granted Nielsen's motion to dismiss in full from the bench at oral argument on the motion. New Delhi Television Ltd. v. Nielsen Holdings, N.V., 111 A.D.3d 437 (1st Dep't 2013); and
• Obtaining summary judgment and affirmance on appeal for the estate of a successful businessman in a lawsuit by the deceased's former mistress alleging a right to large payments from the estate.  In the Matter of Cheng Ching Wang, 114 A.D.3d 939 (2d Dep't 2014).

Aidan is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has been an associate editor of the Antitrust Law Journal, a member of the Editorial Board of the American Bar Association's Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments, co-chair of the New York State Bar Association Section of Commercial and Federal Litigation's Committee on Antitrust and a member of the Executive Committee of the Section. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the State Bar's Antitrust Section. He has been a guest lecturer and speaker at New York University School of Law, The Wharton School and the University of Michigan Law School, and has published extensively in the areas of antitrust and intellectual property law. Aidan is the co-author of the "United States" chapter in the last several editions of The Public Competition Enforcement Review and served as General Editor of the Sixth, Seventh and forthcoming Eight editions.

Aidan continues to be recognized by Chambers USA, The Legal 500, U.S News & World Report/Best Lawyers in America and "The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers & Economists" by Who's Who Legal.

Practices

• Litigation
• Antitrust
• IP Litigation: Copyright & Trademark
• Securities Litigation
  

Education

• LL.M., University of Michigan Law School, 1989
• B.L., The Honorable Society of King's Inns, 1987
• B.C.L., National University of Ireland (University College Cork), 1985

Bar Admissions

• New York
• Ireland

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by Aidan Synnott