Gary I. Smith Jr.

Partner
San Francisco

he / him / his

OVERVIEW

Experience

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.

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 by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers (2017 through present), and a Trailblazer by the Legal Intelligencer (2019).

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 the 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.

- 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 $680 million in settlements with seven banks (Barclays, Citibank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, MUFG Bank Ltd., and Norinchukin Bank), and continues against the remaining ten defendant banks.
- In re Broiler Chicken Grower Antitrust Litigation – in which a proposed 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), and Sanderson Farms ($17.75 million), totaling $69 million and the litigation continues against the sole remaining defendant, Pilgrim’s.
- 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 in early 2019 for $58 million, bringing the total settlements in the case to over $147 million.

Gary I. Smith Jr.

OVERVIEW

EDUCATION

BAR ADMISSIONS

AFFILIATIONS

NEWS

Hausfeld, Berger Montague, Lieff Cabraser, and Justice Catalyst File Federal Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Against Alleged Rental Housing Cartel

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

AAI Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference

PUBLICATIONS

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

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