Gary I. Smith Jr.

Partner
San Francisco

he / him / his

OVERVIEW

Gary is an experienced litigator, focusing his practice on complex federal antitrust cases. Gary has successfully represented clients in district court proceedings, on appeal to the circuit courts, and when necessary, in the Supreme Court of the United States. All told, Gary has recovered over $1 billion for clients that were the victims of antitrust violations. The Legal 500 has identified Gary as a “key name in California” for antitrust litigation and described Gary as “creative and intellectually nimble,” “a practical and effective litigator,” “a pleasure to work with,” and “a very skilled advocate” that “takes his professional and ethical obligations seriously.”

Gary has litigated cases involving monopolistic and cartel activity in a wide range of industries, from the agricultural sector to the financial markets – with a particular emphasis on healthcare, where Gary has represented hospitals and physicians in matters concerning overcharges on medical, surgical, and dental products as well as biologics (vaccines) and pharmaceuticals. For this work, Gary has been honored as a Rising Star Under 40 in Healthcare Law by Law360 (2017), a Rising Star in Antitrust Litigation (2017 to 2022) and a Super Lawyer for Antitrust Litigation (2023-2024), a Trailblazer by the Legal Intelligencer (2019), an Honoree on Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under List (2023 to 2024), a recipient of the American Antitrust Institute’s Outstanding Achievement in Private Law Practice Award (2023), and was named to Best Lawyers Ones to Watch list for Antitrust (2025).

Gary is also committed to legal scholarship, the development of the antitrust laws, and serving the community through pro bono work. Gary has authored numerous articles on competition issues and the legal profession, including for the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Young Lawyers Division, the ABA’s Health Care Chronicle, and most notably, contributing to the Eighth Edition of the ABA Antitrust Section’s seminal publication, Antitrust Law Developments. As a former Chair of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Law’s (COSAL) Amicus Committee, Gary has authored or contributed to amicus filings across the circuit courts and in the Supreme Court seeking to advance progressive competition law policies. And on the pro bono front, Gary has represented victims of clergy sexual abuse that received settlement offers from the Philadelphia Archdiocese. For this and other pro bono work, Gary and Hausfeld’s Philadelphia office received the Philadelphia Bar Foundation’s 2019 Pro Bono Award.

Clients

Gary counts among his clients hospitals and hospital systems, pediatricians, dentists and dental laboratories, universities, local governments, investment and pension funds, advertising agencies, and farmers.

WHAT OTHERS SAY

American Antitrust Institute

Outstanding Antitrust Litigation achievement in Private Law Practice in 2023 for In re Broiler Chicken Grower Antitrust Litigation

Best Lawyers

Ones to Watch in 2025
- Antitrust Law
- Litigation - Antitrust

Benchmark Litigation

40 & Under List since 2023

Courts

“[A]s I have stated before, based on my own observation over the course of nearly eight years, I find counsel to be skilled and experienced and find that they have zealously represented the interests of the plaintiffs and the settlement class.”

- Comments of Chief Judge Robert J. Shelby during the Final Approval Hearing in In re Broiler Chicken Grower Antitrust Litigation (No. II), where Gary successfully argued for final approval of the $100 million settlement with Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.

"This is a substantial recovery that has the deterrent effect that class actions are supposed to have, and I think it was done because we had really good Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in this case who were running it."

- Comments of Judge Brian M. Cogan during the Final Approval Hearing in In re Dental Supplies Antirust Litigation, where Gary successfully argued for final approval of the $80 million settlement with Defendants Henry Schein, Inc., Patterson Companies, Inc., and Benco Dental Supply Co.

Law360

Rising Star Under 40, Healthcare Law in 2017

Legal 500

"Gary Smith is a very talented, ethical lawyer." (Legal 500 US, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Action: Plaintiff, 2024)

"Gary Smith is a very smart lawyer, that is a very skilled advocate, who, while representing his clients’ interests vigorously, takes his professional and ethical obligations seriously." (Legal 500 US, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Action: Plaintiff, 2023)

"Gary Smith is a pleasure to work with. He is creative and intellectually nimble in crafting antitrust theories and legal arguments. He is also a practical and effective litigator." (Legal 500 US, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Action: Plaintiff, 2023)

Super Lawyers

Rising Star, Antitrust Litigation in Pennsylvania (2017 - 2022)
Super Lawyer, Antitrust Litigation in Pennsylvania in 2023
Super Lawyer, Antitrust Litigation in Northern California in 2024

The Legal Intelligencer

Pennsylvania Trailblazer in 2019

Other

Pro Bono Award of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation: an honor received by Gary and the firm's Philadelphia office in 2019.

- In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation – In which a certified class of purchasers of over-the-counter (OTC) financial instruments with interest payments tied to the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR) are challenging the collusive manipulation of U.S. Dollar LIBOR by the world’s largest financial institutions. The collusion is claimed to have suppressed the U.S. Dollar LIBOR rate, which allowed the defendant banks to benefit financially to the detriment of their counterparties in OTC financial instruments such as swaps and bonds. The case has resulted in $781 million in settlements with twelve banks, and continues against the remaining five defendant banks.
- In re Broiler Chicken Grower Antitrust Litigation – in which a certified class of broiler chicken farmers (referred to as “Growers”) claim that over twenty of the country’s largest poultry producers, including Tyson, Pilgrim’s, Perdue, Koch Foods, and Sanderson Farms colluded to suppress Grower pay through agreements not to recruit, solicit, or “poach” one another’s Growers and through comprehensive and systematic exchanges of Grower compensation information. Settlements have been reached with Tyson ($21 million), Perdue ($14.75 million), Koch Foods ($15.5 million), Sanderson Farms ($17.75 million), and Pilgrim’s Pride ($100 million) totaling $169 million.
- In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation – In which a proposed class of private dental practices claimed that the four major distributors of dental products and equipment conspired to fix margins, divide markets and allocate customers, and orchestrate industry boycotts of lower-priced, innovative rivals. Gary beat the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to the courthouse by almost two years, with the FTC filing a related lawsuit against the dental distributor companies well after the private plaintiffs first initiated their action, borrowing legal theories first investigated and advanced by the private plaintiffs. The private plaintiffs’ action was settled just minutes before a class certification Daubert hearing was set to commence for $80 million.
- Adriana M. Castro, M.D., P.A. v. Sanofi Pasteur Inc. – In which a certified class of wholesalers, hospitals, and physicians that purchased Sanofi’s quadrivalent conjugate meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) Menactra (a vaccine for Meningitis) claimed that Sanofi monopolized the MCV4 market by threatening large price penalties across Sanofi’s broad line of pediatric vaccines if pediatricians purchased MCV4 vaccines from Sanofi’s only MCV4 rival, Novartis’s Menveo. The suit claimed that Sanofi’s conditional pricing practices had the purpose and effect of foreclosing Sanofi’s only MCV4 rival from the market, allowing Sanofi to continue to charge monopoly prices for Menactra. The case settled in December 2016 for $61.5 million.
- In re Transpacific Passenger Air Transportation Antitrust Litigation – In which a certified class of consumers of transpacific passenger air travel claimed that thirteen airlines conspired to fix the prices of certain air fares and fuel surcharges. The last of the thirteen defendants settled on the eve of trial for $58 million, bringing the total settlements in the case to over $147 million.
- In Re: RealPage, Inc., Rental Software Antitrust Litigation – Hausfeld serves as co-lead counsel in the federal antitrust class action against RealPage, Inc. and several of their property management clients, alleging that the Defendants, some of the largest owners and managers of rental real estate in the United States, conspired to use RealPage’s so-called “revenue management” service to set rental prices and restrict the supply of available rental units in major metropolitan areas across the United States.

Gary Smith is an outstanding antitrust lawyer.

Legal 500 US, 2025

Gary Smith is a very talented, ethical lawyer.

Legal 500 US, 2024

Gary Smith is a very smart lawyer, that is a very skilled advocate, who, while representing his clients’ interests vigorously, takes his professional and ethical obligations seriously.

Legal 500 US, 2023

Gary Smith is a pleasure to work with. He is creative and intellectually nimble in crafting antitrust theories and legal arguments. He is also a practical and effective litigator.

Legal 500 US, 2023

Gary I. Smith Jr.

OVERVIEW

EDUCATION

BAR ADMISSIONS

AFFILIATIONS

WHAT OTHERS SAY

PUBLICATIONS

Tenth Circuit grapples with intent, consumer welfare standard in decision involving the alleged monopolization of a healthcare market

Ascertainability

NEWS

Legal 500 US 2025 ranks Hausfeld as top-tier in Antitrust for the 16th consecutive year and reaffirms ranking in Technology & Data Breach

Antitrust Lawsuit Filed Against Major Construction Equipment Rental Companies

Best Lawyers 2025 recognizes 13 Hausfeld lawyers across the US and awards Megan E. Jones and Christopher L. Lebsock as a Lawyer of the Year

Benchmark Litigation ranks four Hausfeld partners in their 2024 “40 & Under List”

Super Lawyers recognizes five California Hausfeld lawyers

Sprint T-Mobile merger antitrust lawsuit survives motion to dismiss

Federal Antitrust Class Action lawsuit filed over T-Mobile/Sprint Merger

Philadelphia Partner Gary Smith, Jr. named to the Legal Intelligencer’s list of 2019 Pennsylvania 'Trailblazers'

Hausfeld honored with the Pro Bono Award of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation

Hausfeld announces record number of promotions globally, demonstrating continued firm growth

EVENTS

California Lawyers Association’s 2024 Golden State Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Institute

Complex Litigation Ethics Conference

Complex Litigation Ethics Conference

AAI Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference

Experience

WHAT OTHERS SAY

EUROPA

USA

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