A partner in the Litigation Department, Aidan Synnott focuses on antitrust litigation and compliance, intellectual property litigation and other complex commercial litigation. Mr. Synnott has been described by the Chambers Guide to American Leading Lawyers for Business as “beloved by his clients for explaining antitrust law in business terms” and “one of the best at communicating articulately with business people.” 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.

Mr. Synnott’s representations include:

• the current defense of a large media research company against a claim of alleged monopolization;
  
  
• the successful defense of the largest market research company in the world in a federal antitrust action brought by its largest 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);
  
  
• the defense of 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;
  
  
• the successful representations of an acquirer in the payroll business, an acquirer of shipping assets, and a seller in the natural gas business in high-profile Second Request investigations before the antitrust agencies;
  
  
• 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);
  
  
• the 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);
  
  
• the music publishers in their litigations against MP3.com and Scour.net, both of which were settled on favorable terms;
  
  
• 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; and
  
  
• the audit committee of a large service-outsourcing company in an internal investigation of certain restatement issues.

Mr. Synnott 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 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.