Orin Snyder is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Vice-Chair of the Firm's Crisis Management Practice Group and Co-Chair of its Media, Entertainment and Technology Practice Group. He is also a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations Group and Intellectual Property Practice Group. Mr. Snyder represents clients in a wide range of complex civil and white collar matters, including matters involving intellectual property, media and technology, complex commercial litigation and internal corporate investigations. As an authority in these areas, Mr. Snyder is often sought out by publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times as a source for commentary on important legal topics in the news.
Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2008 ranked Mr. Snyder among the top commercial litigation lawyers in New York. Chambers USA also ranked him among the leading media entertainment copyright litigators in New York. Mr. Snyder also was selected by The Best Lawyers In America 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 editions as one of the leading lawyers in the United States and was recognized as one of the leading lawyers in New York in New York Magazine's Best New York Lawyers 2005 special edition. Recently, Mr. Snyder appeared in The Legal 500 US 2008 edition and was also ranked in 2007 as one of the leading trial lawyers in the country. Mr. Snyder was featured in IP Law & Business' 2006 Best Lawyers In America. In 2003, Mr. Snyder was profiled in The American Lawyer as one of the 45 leading lawyers in the United States under the age of 45.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Snyder was a name partner at Parcher, Hayes & Snyder, one of the leading boutique litigation firms in the country. Previously, Mr. Snyder served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he served in the Securities Fraud and Organized Crime Units, and as Chief of the Narcotics Unit. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Snyder prosecuted one of the largest pension fund frauds ever and also oversaw the prosecution of major securities fraud and tax cases. Mr. Snyder has taught trial advocacy as an adjunct professor and lecturer at various law schools. He also teaches courses on intellectual property, copyright law, entertainment law, criminal law and trial skills for continuing legal education programs and clients.
Mr. Snyder earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cum laude, in 1986, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with High Honors in 1983.
Media, Technology and Intellectual Property
Mr. Snyder represents leading media, technology and entertainment companies in a wide array of matters, including government investigations, intellectual property litigation (trade secret, copyright, trademark, and patent), and privacy and defamation cases. Mr. Snyder has represented NBC Universal (in a case involving the rights to the hit television show "Project Runway"), Facebook (in the New York Attorney General's investigation relating to on-line safety), IAC/Interactive (in a trade secrets case), Edgar M. Bronfman, Jr. (in a $100 million breach of contract case), William Morris Agency (in a breach of fiduciary duty case), Turner Broadcasting Systems (in a fraud and breach of contract case), ValueClick (as a plaintiff in a trade secrets case), T-Mobile, Sharp and Danger (in a patent and trade secrets case relating to the Sidekick mobile communication device) and Warner Music Group (in consolidated antitrust actions growing out of the Elliot Spitzer's "payola" investigation and numerous other cases). Many of Mr. Snyder's cases have resulted in leading precedents, such as the RENT case (Thomson v. Larson, 147 F.3d 195 (2d Cir. 1998)) and the leading "access" decision in the Second Circuit (Jorgenson v. Epic/Sony Records, 351 F.3d 46, 50 (2d Cir. 2003)). Mr. Snyder's clients have included IAC/Interactive Corp., Warner Music Group, Facebook, SONYBMG Music Entertainment, NBC Universal, Yahoo, Goldman Sachs, American Airlines, Home Box Office, Time Warner, Sony Pictures Entertainment, CNN, T-Mobile USA, MobiTV, ValueClick, American Media, Cablevision, Current Communications, Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. Records, and Time, Inc. He also has handled litigation for Bob Dylan, Julie Andrews, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, Kid Rock, Cindy Crawford, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Marc Anthony, Montel Williams, and many other well-known individuals.
Mr. Snyder also regularly counsels Internet, media, technology and other clients on matters relating to e-commerce, digital distribution of content, digital rights management, wireless communications, broadband access to the Internet, digital breach and privacy issues, information security, and related issues.
Crisis Management and White Collar
As Vice-Chair of the Firm's Crisis Management Group, Mr. Snyder counsels clients in some of their most sensitive and complex legal crises involving overlapping criminal, regulatory, civil and related public relations issues. In the criminal and white collar arena, Mr. Snyder is often called upon by companies in all business sectors to conduct sensitive criminal, regulatory and investigative matters. He has been retained to represent targets of investigations conducted by federal or state governments or other regulatory agencies, including the Securities Exchange Commission; witnesses, targets and subjects in federal and state grand jury investigations; and witnesses called before congressional and other legislative bodies. He also advises clients faced with parallel civil and criminal proceedings and investigations that can involve regulatory, criminal, civil and public relations concerns at the same time. Mr. Snyder has been retained to conduct internal and special investigations for clients to help uncover wrongdoing, comply with government rules and regulations, and take advantage of voluntary disclosure and sentencing guidelines for businesses that have compliance programs. Mr. Snyder frequently is retained by clients to develop and implement prompt and effective media strategies to deal with allegations of wrongdoing and other legal problems.
For example, Mr. Snyder has represented clients in connection with many of the most high-profile investigations conducted by the New York Attorney General's Office. He is representing Freddy Mac in the New York Attorney General's investigation of the mortgage industry; Facebook in the New York Attorney General's investigation of on-line safety on the Internet; and Warner Music Group in connection with the New York Attorney General's investigation of record promotions practices and related matters. In addition, he has represented a large financial services company in an internal investigation relating to vendor fraud; a Fortune 500 company in a whistle-blower investigation of alleged kickbacks; a financial institution in a FCPA and money laundering investigation; and a large private media company in connection with a DOJ investigation of alleged obstruction of justice. Mr. Snyder has been retained by one of the world's largest media companies to conduct a series of internal investigations, spanning several years, relating to core business standards and practices. He has represented senior executives in connection with grand jury and other government investigations. Mr. Snyder also has represented other individuals and companies in connection with criminal investigations that did not lead to the institution of charges in matters involving alleged insider trading, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, tax evasion and other alleged criminal conduct. He has represented companies in internal investigations arising out of alleged sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace. Mr. Snyder has represented numerous senior executives in confidential matters that have required the use of media strategies and private negotiation in order to avoid or minimize legal and/or public relations problems.
Commercial Litigation
Mr. Snyder regularly handles a wide range of complex commercial litigation, including contract, fraud, antitrust, partnership, unfair competition, class actions, consumer fraud, professional malpractice, sexual harassment, and other commercial disputes. Mr. Snyder has handled scores of arbitration proceedings and often is called upon by clients to resolve disputes, either privately or through mediation, before the commencement of litigation. Mr. Snyder also represents clients, including investment banks, in conducting litigation due diligence in connection with proposed or anticipated transactions in order to assess the litigation risks associated with the transaction. Mr. Snyder has represented DaimlerChrysler Corp., Goldman Sachs, UBS, Warner Music Group, Turner Broadcasting Systems, Stonebridge Partners Equity Fund, Seward & Kissel, and Bertelsmann.