Daniel A. Small became of counsel at Cohen Milstein, after being a partner for many years, when he largely retired from the practice of law in 2022. He continues to work on periodic pro bono cases with the firm and on a couple of matters nearing completion. Dan was the co-chair of the Antitrust practice group for ten years. He also had the honor of serving on the firm’s executive committee for over a decade.
Dan is one of the most respected litigators in antitrust class actions. In 2020, Law360 named him a Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar for his decades of success in antitrust and other cases, including his extensive involvement in a class action against Sutter Health that settled on the eve of trial in October 2019 for $575 million and detailed injunctive relief. He is also named on the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America list (2018 – 2022) and the Super Lawyers’ list of Top Antitrust Litigation Attorneys in Washington, DC (2013 – 2022). Since 2009, Legal 500 has annually recognized Dan and Cohen Milstein as a Leading Plaintiffs Antitrust Class Action Lawyer/Firm; Benchmark Plaintiff has repeatedly awarded him with its National Litigation Star – Antitrust recognition; and Global Competition Review and Who’s Who Legal: Competition has named him a Leading Thought Leader – Competition since 2014.
Dan is widely regarded for his intellectual energy, deep study of the economic issues underpinning antitrust disputes and sophisticated understanding of how conspiracies and monopolies operate in a range of complex markets – from animation and visual effects workers and computer software and hardware to wild blueberries and hospital nurses – and achieving just compensation for victims and promoting more open markets nationwide.
He has represented plaintiff classes, and defended unions, as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous antitrust cases and obtained settlements and judgments totaling over one billion dollars. He has tried cases to verdict and argued in numerous appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2018, Dan, Cohen Milstein, and the co-lead counsel team in Animation Workers Antitrust Litigation were nominated for Public Justice Foundation’s Trial Lawyer of the Year, recognizing the legal teams that made the most outstanding contributions to the public interest through precedent-setting or otherwise extraordinary litigation concluded within the last year.
- American Antitrust Institute, Advisory Board Member
- Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award, Committee Member
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- American University Washington College of Law, J.D., 1986
- Colgate University, B.A., cum laude, 1981
- Law Clerk, the Hon. Roger Vinson, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, 1986-1988
Current Cases
Lewis, et al v. Cain, et al.
Lewis, et al v. Cain, et al. (M.D. La.): Cohen Milstein represents a certified class of more than 6,000 incarcerated individuals in a lawsuit filed against the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA, the largest maximum-security prison in the country, and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections for deficient and discriminatory medical care in violation of the Eighth Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act.
Moehrl v. National Association of Realtors, et al.
Moehrl v. National Association of Realtors, et al. (N.D. Il.): Cohen Milstein is co-lead counsel in this certified class action, in which home sellers allege that National Association of Realtors (NAR) and many of the nation's largest real estate broker franchisors of conspiring to require home sellers to pay home buyer brokers fees – and at an inflated rate. Plaintiffs allege that the conspiracy revolves around NAR’s mandatory requirement that sellers make a buyer broker commission offer when listing their home on a multiple listing service. Since October 2023, Cohen Milstein and co-counsel have helped home sellers achieve more than $997.1 million in settlements thus far, of which, more than $876.5 million has been granted final approval by the courts, including a $418 million settlement with NAR and the $250 million settlement with HomeServices America, which was granted final approval on November 26, 2024.
Pacific Steel Group v. Commercial Metals Company, et al.
Pacific Steel Group v. Commercial Metals Company (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein represented Pacific Steel Group (PSG), a steel rebar fabricator, in challenging an exclusionary micro mill contract initiated by Commercial Metals Company (CMC), one of the world’s largest steel companies. The alleged purpose of the contract was to assert CMC's monopoly an prevent PSG from competing in the Southern California market. On November 5, 2024, after a two-week jury trial, a federal jury issued a $110 million verdict against CMC.
Past Cases
Couy Griffin Jan. 6 Insurrection Litigation
Couy Griffin Jan. 6 Insurrection Litigation (1st Jud. Dist. Crt., Santa Fe Cnty., NM): Acting as trial counsel, Cohen Milstein, on behalf of CREW helped successfully prosecute this quo warranto lawsuit to remove Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin from office and disqualify him from holding any future public office pursuant 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and New Mexico statutes because of his participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol.
In re Google LLC Street View Electronic Communications Litigation
In re Google LLC Street View Electronic Communications Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein was co-lead counsel in a nationwide class action alleging that Google violated the Wiretap Act when its Street View vehicles secretly collected payload data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Plaintiffs defeated a motion to dismiss raising novel Wiretap Act issues, and the ruling was affirmed on interlocutory appeal to the Ninth Circuit. The court approved a $13 million settlement in March 2020.
The Shane Group, Inc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
The Shane Group, Inc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (E.D. Mich.): Cohen Milstein served as Co-Lead Counsel, representing a class of purchasers of hospital services against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for agreeing to MFN provisions in its contracts with hospitals throughout Michigan that required those hospitals to charge other insurers as much or considerably more for services provided to class members. The Court approved a settlement with BCBSM for nearly $30 million.
UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health, et al.
Sutter Health Antitrust Litigation (Sup. Ct., San Fran. Cty., Cal.): On August 27, 2021, the Court granted final approval of a $575 million eve-of-trial settlement, which includes significant injunctive relief, in this antitrust class action against Sutter Health, one of the largest healthcare providers in California, for restraining hospital competition through anticompetitive contracting practices with insurance companies. Cohen Milstein was one of five firms that litigated this case since 2014 on behalf of a certified class of self-insured employers and union trust funds. California’s Attorney General joined the suit in March 2018.
VFX/Animation Workers: In re: Animation Workers Antitrust Litigation
VFX/Animation Workers: In re Animation Workers Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein initiated the investigation, filed the first complaint and the served as co-lead counsel for a class of animation and visual effects workers in a lawsuit alleging that the defendants, who include Pixar, Lucasfilm Ltd. and DreamWorks Animation, secretly agreed not to solicit class members and to coordinate on compensation. The Court approved settlements with all of the defendants for a total of $168.5 million.
- American Antitrust Institute: Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame Inductee (2024)
- Global Competition Review Who’s Who Legal: Competition (2014-2024)
- Lawdragon Hall of Fame (2024)
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2018-2022)
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers (2019-2023)
- Legal 500 Leading Plaintiffs Antitrust Class Action Lawyer (2009-2022)
- Law360 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar (2020)
- Super Lawyers (2013-2024)
- The Best Lawyers in America (2024, 2025)
November 5, 2024
Texas Rebar Giant CMC Hit With $110M Antitrust Verdict
A California federal jury hit Commercial Metals Co. with a $110 million antitrust verdict on Tuesday, finding the Texas rebar giant liable for multiple antitrust violations and awarding Pacific Steel Group millions of dollars in lost profits and other damages.
In the News | Law360
October 28, 2024
Rebar Giant Pushed ‘Hands-Off Calif.’ Deal, Antitrust Jury Told
Commercial Metals Co.'s ex-CEO conceded during a federal antitrust jury trial Monday that the Texas rebar giant pushed micromill-maker Danieli Corp. into a "hands-off California" exclusivity provision barring Danieli from developing most Golden State rival mills days after discovering Pacific Steel Group was planning to build a mill in Southern California with Danieli.
In the News | Law360
October 1, 2024
AAI Announces 2024 Antitrust Enforcement Award Honorees
The American Antitrust Institute has announced its 2024 Antitrust Enforcement Award honorees. These leading attorneys and economists will be recognized at AAI Awards Night on October 30, following AAI’s Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference. Congratulations to the honorees! OUTSTANDING ANTITRUST LITIGATION ACHIEVEMENT IN PRIVATE LAW PRACTICE Moehrl, et al./Burnett, et al. v. The National Association of Realtors, et […]
Press Releases | American Antitrust Institute
September 11, 2024
AAI Announces 2024 Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame Inductee: Daniel A. Small
The American Antitrust Institute has announced Daniel A. Small as the 2024 inductee to the Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame. He will be honored during a luncheon presentation at AAI’s 18th AAI Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference on October 30, 2024, in Washington D.C. Daniel Small, widely regarded for his intellectual energy, deep study of the economic issues underpinning […]
In the News | American Antitrust Institute
May 13, 2024
2023 Winners of Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship Announced
Cohen Milstein and the American Antitrust Institute announce the winners of the Jerry S. Cohen Award for outstanding antitrust scholarship for 2023. The authors of “Common Ownership, Competition, and Top Management Incentives,” 131 Journal of Political Economy 1294 (2023) will be honored at the American Antitrust Institute’s 25th Annual Policy Conference on May 22, 2024 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Press Releases | Cohen Milstein
May 10, 2023
American Antitrust Institute and Cohen Milstein Announce Winners of Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: cohenmilstein@berlinrosen.com American Antitrust Institute and Cohen Milstein Announce Winners of Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship Annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to antitrust scholarship WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of their outstanding contribution to antitrust scholarship, the authors listed below have been selected as recipients of the 21st Annual Jerry […]
In the News
March 29, 2023
Home Sellers Win Class Cert. for NAR Antitrust Suit
An Illinois federal judge certified two classes of home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors and several real estate brokerage firms of conspiring to charge “inflated” commission rates for buyer-brokers who sold homes, ruling on Wednesday that the suit’s claims meet several class certification requirements. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood […]
In the News | Law360
September 6, 2022
Effort to Bar Jan. 6 Figures from Office Notches Historic Win. What Now?
Plenty of history — very bad history — was made on Jan. 6, 2021. For the first time since the War of 1812, the U.S. Capitol was breached. It’s the first time a U.S. president has sought to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power. The sheer number of members of Congress who voted both against […]
In the News | The Washington Post
September 6, 2022
New Mexico County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump Founder Removed from Elected Office for Role in US Capitol Riot
Couy Griffin is sentenced in DC District Court on June 17, 2022 for his role in the US Capitol attack. A New Mexico judge on Tuesday removed January 6 rioter and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin from his elected position as a county commissioner for his role in the US Capitol attack. The ruling […]
In the News | CNN
September 6, 2022
Judge Unseats Official Who Trespassed at Capitol on Jan. 6
The ruling made Couy Griffin, a county commissioner in New Mexico, the first official in more than 100 years to be removed under the Constitution’s bar on insurrectionists holding office. A judge in New Mexico on Tuesday ordered a county commissioner convicted of participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol removed from office […]
In the News | The New York Times
September 6, 2022
Judge Removes Griffin from Office for Engaging in the January 6 Insurrection
SANTA FE — A New Mexico judge ordered Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin be removed from office, effective immediately, ruling that the attack on the Capitol was an insurrection and that Griffin’s participation in it disqualified him under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. This decision marks the first time since 1869 that a court has […]
In the News | CREW
June 15, 2022
Winners of 2022 Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of their outstanding contribution to antitrust scholarship, the authors listed below have been selected as recipients of the 20th Annual Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award: Colleen Cunningham, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School; Florian Ederer, Associate Professor of Economics, Yale School of Management; […]
Press Releases
February 3, 2022
9th Circ. Denies Panel Rehearing on $13M Google Deal
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday denied an objector’s petition to rehear a decision that gives $13 million to internet privacy advocates and lawyers to end allegations that Google’s Street View car fleet illegally gathered Wi-Fi network data, but no money for 60 million class members. On a 2-1 vote, the panel that issued the December […]
In the News | Law360
December 27, 2021
Google $13 Million Street View Privacy Deal Survives Appeal Bid
Google‘s $13 million class settlement resolving claims over personal data collected by its Street View vehicles remains intact after the Ninth Circuit rejected arguments Monday it unfairly benefited charitable groups at the expense of consumers. Settlements that provide monetary relief only in the form of cy pres payments to third parties may be appropriate where […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law
August 30, 2021
Federal Judge Grants Final Approval of $575M Settlement Against Sutter Health
A federal judge has granted final approval for a $575 million settlement with Northern California-based hospital system Sutter Health that settles allegations of price gouging. The settlement judgment, announced late Friday, requires Sutter to not only pay $575 million but also to adopt several reforms aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices. “Sutter will no longer have […]
In the News | Fierce Healthcare
August 30, 2021
Sutter Health’s $575M Antitrust Settlement Is Final: 4 Things to Know
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo granted final approval of Sutter Health’s $575 million antitrust settlement Aug. 27. Four things to know: 1. The settlement was initially reached in December 2019 by Sutter and the parties that sued the Sacramento, Calif.-based system, including then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, unions and other employers. Ms. Massullo […]
In the News | Becker’s Hospital Review
August 28, 2021
Judge Approves Sutter Health Antitrust Deal. What That Means for California Health Care
Sutter Health is $575 million poorer — and now must operate under new rules designed to curb its ability to dictate the price of health care in Sacramento and Northern California. A judge late Friday approved a landmark antitrust settlement agreement between the Sacramento-based hospital chain, the state of California and a group of health […]
In the News | The Sacramento Bee
August 6, 2021
Home Sellers Blast Keller Williams’ Subpoena Bid in NAR Row
Home sellers pursuing antitrust claims over allegedly anti-competitive National Association of Realtors commissions rules urged an Illinois federal judge Thursday to stop a real estate brokerage’s attempt to “end-run” an earlier discovery order by subpoenaing its own franchises for documents they’ve requested. In a joint status report, the home sellers told U.S. District Judge Andrea […]
In the News | Law360
July 8, 2021
Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship 2020 Winning Articles Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of their outstanding contribution to antitrust scholarship, the authors listed below have been selected as recipients of the 19th Annual Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award: C. Scott Hemphill, Moses H. Grossman Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; Tim Wu, Julius Silver Professor of […]
Press Releases
July 6, 2021
“Pilgrim’s $29 Million Deal Headed to Judge in Wage-Fixing Case,” Bloomberg Law
Suit alleges scheme to drive down pay for poultry workers Pilgrim’s will pay and cooperate, settlement motion says JBS SA subsidiary Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. will pay $29 million to resolve antitrust claims over its alleged role in an industrywide scheme to depress pay for the largely immigrant workforce employed at poultry processing plants, according to […]
In the News
March 31, 2021
Federal Judge Rules Medical Care at Angola Amounts to Cruel and Unusual Punishment and Violates the Americans With Disabilities Act
NEW ORLEANS – Patients at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (“Angola”) needlessly suffer from serious injuries—including severe pain, preventable sickness, and untimely death—as a result of prison officials’ failure to provide constitutionally adequate medical care. They also failed to accommodate disabilities, a federal judge ruled today. Civil rights lawyers filed the class action lawsuit, […]
In the News
March 11, 2021
Tyson, Pilgrim’s, Hormel to Face Poultry Worker Wage-Fixing Suit
Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., Hormel Foods Corp., and other top poultry processors must face antitrust claims over an alleged industrywide plot to drive down the wages of their largely immigrant workforce, a federal judge in Maryland ruled Thursday. Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher, who tentatively tossed the case last year, said this time around […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law
March 11, 2021
Poultry Giants Can’t Dodge Workers’ Wage-Fixing Suit
A Maryland federal judge declined to toss proposed class action claims from workers against three poultry companies accused of plotting to keep wages low and also rejected an effort to trim the suit to exclude jobs the plaintiffs didn’t do. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher turned down three separate requests to dismiss Jennie-O Turkey […]
In the News | Law360
January 6, 2021
Home Sellers Blast ‘Fruitless’ Bid to Excise Class Members
HomeServices of America can’t head off discovery with “a premature and fruitless” argument that some of the home sellers suing it and other real estate brokerages over National Association of Realtors commission rules belong in arbitration, the sellers told an Illinois federal judge Tuesday. HomeServices of America Inc., a holding company whose affiliates include BHH […]
In the News | Law360
December 21, 2020
Pacific Steel v. CMC Reveals Rebar Market Disruption and Greening
Cement and cementitious materials producers are helping concrete customers improve carbon dioxide emissions reduction track records and or embodied carbon metrics. Additional improvements are in the offing for structural concrete as reinforcing steel top guns log CO2 cuts on trend lines sharper than their portland cement counterparts. Since the percentage of rebar in a column […]
In the News | Concrete Products Magazine
December 13, 2020
How a Hospital System Grew to Gain Market Power and Drove Up California Health Care Costs
Sutter Health is in the midst of a lawsuit for business practices that drove up health care prices for Californians The coronavirus pandemic has unleashed more than a flood of disease in this country. It’s also expected to accelerate a wave of hospital mergers and acquisitions – with big hospitals buying up smaller ones. This […]
In the News | 60 Minutes
November 3, 2020
Commercial Metals Company and Danieli Sued for Monopolization of California Steel “Rebar” Market
Pacific Steel Group Alleges CMC and Danieli Corporation Schemed to Block It from Entering Market Steel Reinforcing Bar is a Key Product Used in Commercial Construction Projects SAN FRANCISCO—On October 30, 2020, Pacific Steel Group, a steel rebar fabricator located in San Diego, California, sued Commercial Metals Company, a multi-national steel conglomerate and the nation’s […]
In the News | Cohen Milstein
October 2, 2020
Realtor Group Can’t Ditch Antitrust Suit Over Commission
The National Association of Realtors can’t dodge a suit accusing it of breaking antitrust laws by imposing sales commission rules that can result in unfair charges to home sellers, an Illinois federal court declared Friday. The NAR had been trying to sway U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood to its position that the proposed class […]
In the News | Law360
June 10, 2020
Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship Selects Winner, Measuring Effects of Global Leniency Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In recognition of their outstanding contribution to antitrust scholarship, the authors listed below have been selected as recipients of the 18th Annual Jerry S. Cohen Memorial Fund Writing Award: Ailin Dong, Assistant Professor at the Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Massimo Massa, Professor at INSEAD; Alminas Žaldokas, Assistant […]
In the News
May 25, 2020
Daniel A. Small Named a 2020 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar
They’ve represented consumers, companies, and government entities, taken on Goliaths in industries ranging from aerospace to health care to finance to technology to sports, and won landmark victories on behalf of clients across the country. . . . The 10 attorneys honored by Law360 as influential plaintiffs lawyers all scored significant wins in 2019. They […]
In the News | Law360
May 14, 2020
4th Circ. Revives Emoluments Case Against Trump
The Fourth Circuit on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s request to throw out a lawsuit by Maryland and the District of Columbia over allegations that his ownership stake in the Trump International Hotel violates the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause. The appeals court voted 9-6 to allow the case to move forward at a Maryland district […]
In the News | Law360
May 14, 2020
Law360’s Weekly Verdict Legal Lions & Lambs: Emoluments Litigation
Legal Lions Rounding out this week’s legal lions group are the Maryland and D.C. attorneys general offices, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Gupta Wessler PLLC. The Fourth Circuit on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s request to throw out a lawsuit by Maryland and the District of Columbia […]
In the News
March 19, 2020
Google’s $13M Street View Deal OK’d Over AGs’ Objections
A California federal judge has given a final blessing to a $13 million cy pres settlement resolving allegations that Google illegally gathered Wi-Fi network data with its Street View car fleet, despite objections from a number of state attorneys general that the deal doesn’t directly benefit consumers. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer gave his […]
In the News | Law360
February 28, 2020
In Google Street View Digital Snooping Case, Judge Sees a ‘Paradigmatic’ Case
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California opened the hearing by saying that he clearly thought that the plaintiffs had standing to sue. “I think there was injury, and I think that it’s an important vindication of an individual’s rights to be able to seek redress in a court for an […]
In the News | The Recorder
December 20, 2019
Sutter Health to Pay $575 Million to Settle Antitrust Lawsuit
The deal resolves allegations of anti-competitive behavior by the large hospital system in Northern California. Sutter Health, the large hospital system in Northern California, said Friday that it had agreed to pay $575 million to settle claims of anti-competitive behavior brought by the California state attorney general as well as unions and employers. In addition […]
In the News | The New York Times
October 16, 2019
Surprise Settlement Reached in Big Sutter Health Case Over Medical Pricing
Sutter Health has reached a tentative settlement agreement in a closely watched antitrust case brought by self-funded employers, and later joined by the California Attorney General’s Office. The agreement was announced in the San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday morning, just before opening arguments were expected to begin. Details have not been made public, and […]
In the News | Los Angeles Times
February 1, 2017
Disney, Pixar Settle Animator Antitrust Row For $100M
The Walt Disney Co., Pixar and Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC have agreed to a $100 million deal that would settle allegations in a class action that they perpetuated a “no poach” agreement with other companies over the hiring of animators, according to a filing in a California federal court on Tuesday. Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm, along […]
In the News | Law360
October 17, 2016
Animation Workers Reach $50 Million Settlement with DreamWorks Animation
A settlement has been reached between a group of animation workers and DreamWorks Animation in a class action lawsuit alleging that DreamWorks and other companies violated antitrust laws by conspiring to set animation wages via non-poaching agreements. The settlement provides for a cash payment of $50 million to a settlement fund. The plaintiffs already had […]
In the News | Variety