Richard S. Snyder

Clients turn to Rich for representation in antitrust litigation, US and global merger control for strategic transactions, and global cartel investigations. Rich appears in federal and state courts and before the FTC, DOJ, and foreign authorities. 

Clients in a variety of industries (including financial services, publishing, entertainment, airlines, auto parts, consumer products, electronics components, and supermarket products) seek counsel from Rich regarding:

• Commercial and class action antitrust litigation in federal and state court. as well as global private damages arbitration and litigation strategy
• Merger reviews before the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as well as global merger control strategy and execution
• Criminal antitrust investigations and global cartel defense
• Latin American merger clearance process

Clients served by Rich include Hachette Book Group, Foster Farms, Cengage Learning, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Universal Music Group, and United Airlines.

Advised:

• Hachette Book Group in In Re Amazon.com, Inc. eBook Antitrust Litigation (2021); Bookends & Beginnings LLC v. Amazon.com (2021) the DOJ eBooks investigation and litigation, US v. Apple (2012), as well as follow-on class action litigation, In re Electric books Antitrust Litigation (2012), and related proceedings brought by the DOJ and state attorneys general; in eBooks litigation brought by eBook retailers claiming antitrust injury from publishers’ adoption of the agency sales model (summary judgment for defendants granted); and in The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Inc., et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., antitrust litigation alleging agreement to implement exclusionary Digital Rights Management (DRM) provisions.
• Cengage Learning in its 2009 acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Higher Education and 2019 proposed merger with McGraw-Hill.Cengage Learning in In re Inclusive Access Course Materials Antitrust Litigation.Advise Higher Education Publishers on anti-piracy best practices.
• Universal Music Group on the antitrust considerations of its €6bn sale of a 20% stake to Tencent-controlled entities and $4bn sale of a 10% stake to the Pershing Square.
• Anheuser-Busch InBev in western hemisphere merger clearance processes in its acquisition of SABMiller PLC; coordinated and directed strategy to obtain necessary authorizations, including overall strategy, meetings with regulators and negotiation of merger remedies.

• “M&A Transaction of the Year, Americas,” (United Airlines-Continental Airlines) – Global Competition Review (GCR)
• “Behavioral Matter of the Year,” Americas (ebooks investigation) – Global Competition Review (GCR)
• "Matter of the Year" (Anheuser Busch InBev/SABMiller) – Global Competition Review (GCR)
• #2 most highly regarded future leader in North America – Who's Who Legal Competition: Future Leaders
• Praise by respondent as "one of the best antitrust lawyers I have met, providing sound and solid advice not only on US antitrust laws, but on other jurisdiction's laws too." Additionally, the publication said "he is “very well-liked by clients.” He particularly stands out for his excellent work handling complex merger defense matters." – Who's Who Legal

• Stanford University, BA
• University of Chicago Law School, JD

• District of Columbia

• Member, American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law