Clients turn to Ryan Thomas for their most significant antitrust matters involving complex M&A, investigations, and litigation. He is recognized by leading publications, including Who's Who Legal and The Legal 500, as a future leader and for being pragmatic and business-oriented. He was included among Lawdragon's inaugural list of the "500 Leading Litigators in America."
Ryan advises on competition and consumer protection cases before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), state attorneys general, and authorities in Europe and Asia. Ryan's experience spans industries, including artificial intelligence, aerospace, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, food and agriculture, and building products. He regularly counsels companies with strong market positions in dynamic industries.
Ryan has obtained merger clearances in hundreds of transactions, including Cleveland Cliffs' acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA, Cooper Tire's sale to Goodyear Tire, Sumitomo Pharma's alliance with Roivant Sciences, USG's sale to Knauf, STERIS' acquisition of Synergy Health, NVIDIA's acquisition of Mellanox, Essilor's combination with Luxottica, Safran's acquisition of Zodiac, Hertz's acquisition of Dollar Thrifty, and XM's merger with Sirius.
Ryan defends clients in high-stakes government investigations and antitrust litigation involving mergers, monopolization, and conspiracy claims. He represented STERIS in the FTC's first merger litigation loss in years, convincing the court that the agency's future, "potential competition" claims lacked merit. More recently, Ryan obtained a favorable outcome for a leading technology company targeted in a government monopolization investigation. He is currently representing a Fortune 500 company in a concurrent government antitrust investigation and private class action litigation.
Ryan writes and speaks frequently on antitrust enforcement topics.
Experiencia
Publicaciones adicionales
- August 2022
U.S. Antitrust Agencies Take Aim at Private Equity, The M&A Lawyer, Vol. 26, Issue 7 - January 21, 2021
China's New Merger Rules Streamline Process But May Extend Some Reviews, The M&A Lawyer, Vol. 25, Issue 1 - Fall 2020
Blockchain Technology: A Future Antitrust Target, published in 30 Competition: J. Anti., UCL & Privacy Sec. Cal. L. Assoc. 18 - April 2020
DOJ Prevails in Unprecedented Arbitration in Merger Challenge, Signaling More Arbitration in Future Merger Challenges, The M&A Lawyer, Volume 24, Issue 4 - September 2018
DOJ Rattles the Sabre: A Template for High Tech Merger Challenges?, M&A Lawyer, Vol. 23, Issue 8 - December 2018
U.S. antitrust law developments chapter in "Report on Competition Law and Policy of China (2017)" published by China Society for World Trade Organizational Studies - December 2018
U.S. antitrust law developments chapter in Report on Competition Law and Policy of China (2017) published by China Society for World Trade Organizational Studies - August 2013
Three Years in Rental Cars -- A Wild Ride, 13 The Threshold 3 - May 2012
What Companies Can Learn From AU Optronics, Law 360 - May 2012
Beware Obstruction of Justice In Merger Investigations, Law 360 - April 2012
M&A Lawyer: Hostile Transactions: A Different Antitrust Playbook - June 2009
The Rules of Professional Conduct Are Not Aspirational: Joint Representation of Corporations and Their Employees, Antitrust Source (Read the article.) - April 2009
FTC v. CCC Holdings: Message Received, GCP Magazine - November 2008
XM-Sirius: A Case Study in the Debate Over High Technology Merger Review, Icarus, Newsletter of the Computer & Internet Committee of the ABA Antitrust Section - Fall 2008
XM-Sirius: A View From the Dugout, The Threshold, Newsletter of the Mergers & Acquisitions Committee of the ABA Antitrust Sectio - 2005
Executives Beware: Extradition and the Long Arm of US Law, Young Lawyers, Newsletter of the Young Lawyers' Committee of the International Bar Association - 2002
Practice Guide: Premerger Notification Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, Antitrust Committee of the Section of Business Law
- May 25, 2023
Breaking News: Monopolization claims in FTC v. Amgen/Horizon - January 11, 2023
Panelist, The ABCs of Antitrust and Blockchain, Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association - September 28, 2022
Lecturer, Introduction to U.S. Competition Law, Peking University Law School - September 15, 2022
Panelist, “Antitrust Resurgence or Revolution,” Jones Day MCLE University – Minneapolis, Minnesota - January 22, 2021
Panelist, Antitrust and Blockchain, New York State Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section, Annual Meeting - October 21, 2020
U.S. Competition Law: Fundamentals and Selected Issues, speaker, Peking University - October 14, 2020
Global Antitrust Update (US, Europe, China, Australia, Japan), speaker - February 13, 2019
SciTech Focus on Blockchain: Antitrust Regulation and Blockchain Technology, panelist, American Bar Association - November 29, 2018
U.S. Competition Law: Recent Developments in Technology Markets, speaker, Monte Jade Global Antitrust Competition Law Forum - November 28, 2018
U.S. Competition Law: Fundamentals and Selected Issues, speaker, Peking University - December 3, 2015
Presentation on U.S. & China Antitrust Developments - June 20, 2013
Antitrust Investigations: Tactical and Ethical Issues, D.C. Bar Association - July 12, 2012
Antitrust Investigations: Tactical and Ethical Issues, D.C. Bar Association - November 3, 2010
A Smarter Way: Acuity All-In-One Legal Review, panelist - December 17, 2008
Overview of Key Statutes in U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Antitrust Investigations and Prosecutions, panelist, American Bar Association (Antitrust Section) Cartel and Criminal Practice Committee
"The entire team is excellent, but I would particularly single out Ryan Thomas as exceptional."The Legal 500
- University of Virginia (J.D. 2000; Executive Editor, Journal of Law & Politics); Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A. in Economics 1997)
- Virginia and District of Columbia
The Legal 500 US — recommended for merger control (2019-2022): "not only does [Ryan] have strong expertise in both the US and globally, but he is very pragmatic, and exceptional at coordinating and driving a broad, multi-faceted global regulatory process"
Who's Who Legal: Competition — Future Leaders (2017-2021)
Lawdragon — "500 Leading Litigators in America" (2022)