Dan Small has been a partner at Cohen Milstein for over 17 years and has chaired the firm’s antitrust practice group since 2008.
Small has represented plaintiff classes, often as lead counsel, in numerous antitrust cases over the last 24 years, and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars. He has tried cases to verdict before juries and has argued cases in several appellate courts including the United States Supreme Court.
Among the cases on which Small has worked are: In re Intel Corp. Microprocessor Antitrust Litig. (D. Del.), where he serves as co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of Intel-powered PCs asserting monopolization claims; Meijer, Inc. v. 3M (E.D. Pa.), a monopolization case in which Small, as lead counsel, negotiated a $30 million settlement on behalf of direct purchasers of transparent tape; In re Buspirone Antitrust Litig. (S.D.N.Y.), in which the plaintiff class alleged that Bristol Myers-Squibb Co. unlawfully excluded generic drug competition, and Small, as co-lead counsel, helped negotiate a $90 million settlement; and Pease v. Jasper Wyman & Son, et al., (Super. Ct., Knox Cty., Maine), a price-fixing class action on behalf of Maine wild blueberry growers in which Small successfully tried the case to a jury, obtaining a judgment of nearly $60 million. Small also represented Hy-Ko Products Co. in a competitor action against the dominant sellers, respectively, of key blanks and automatic key duplication machines. He also is defending the Service Employees International Union in an antitrust conspiracy action brought by Prime Healthcare Services, Inc.
Small has substantial appellate experience, including briefing and arguing Free v. Abbott Laboratories, No. 99-391, in the United States Supreme Court. That case presented the issue of whether a supplemental jurisdiction statute overruled Zahn v. International Paper Co. The Court split 4-4, with Justice O’Connor recusing herself. Additionally, Small successfully briefed and argued appeals before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Brand Name Prescription Drug Antitrust Litig., 123 F.3d 599 (7th Cir. 1997), regarding whether the district court had subject matter jurisdiction, and in Paper Systems, Inc. v. Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (7th Cir. 2002), arguing that the federal direct purchaser rule does not immunize a defendant from liability for the direct sales of its co-conspirators. Finally, he briefed and argued the appeal in Mack v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., 1996-1 Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶¶ 71,401 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), obtaining the first opinion construing the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act to permit indirect purchasers to sue for damages for antitrust violations.
Small is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Antitrust Institute, and he chairs the committee that selects the annual winner of the Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Writing Award for the best antitrust scholarship. He has been invited to speak on antitrust and class action topics at events organized by the American Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar, the Conference Board, and the American Antitrust Institute, among others. In 2013, Small was recognized as a Washington, D.C. “Super Lawyer” for antitrust litigation, and he was named both a plaintiffs “Local Litigation Star” in the District of Columbia and a national antitrust “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Plaintiff.
Small is a 1981 graduate of Colgate University, receiving a B.A. (cum laude) in History. He graduated from American University’s Washington College of Law in 1986, and joined Cohen Milstein after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Roger Vinson, United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (1986-1988). Small is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
