OVERVIEW
Sathya is an acclaimed high-stakes litigator with nearly two decades of experience in antitrust, commercial, and sports and entertainment litigation. He advises a diverse roster of clients across numerous industries, helping each navigate complex litigation and achieve dispute resolution. Sathya prides himself on his hands-on approach to litigation, working with select teams to secure favorable results at the trial and appellate levels and deliver outstanding client service.
Sathya is known for his “adept skill set,” “penchant for high-stakes litigation,” and “close attention to detail” (Law360). The Legal 500 has recommended Sathya as a “star” who “works on the most complex cases brilliantly.” Lawdragon consistently ranks Sathya among the top 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in the United States. Sathya’s litigation achievements on behalf of clients have also earned him numerous awards, including “Litigation of the Year” (Global Competition Review); “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice” (American Antitrust Institute); “Legal Lion” (Law360); and finalist for “Lawyer of the Year” (Global Competition Review).
Among his notable representations, Sathya scored a historic victory at trial and on appeal for college athletes in the landmark O’Bannon v. NCAA antitrust litigation, which resulted in permanent injunctive relief and billions of dollars in benefits (in perpetuity) for college athletes. The O’Bannon litigation sparked a national dialogue about equity in college sports that continues to this day.
Leading newspapers and media outlets frequently call on Sathya for his expertise in complex litigation, antitrust law, and sports law, and he has been featured in the New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today, Reuters, Sports Illustrated, Sports Business Journal, Railway Age, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, Al Jazeera America, and Law360, among other publications.
Sathya has also served as an adjunct law professor at The George Washington University Law School and has delivered guest lectures at Yale Law School and The University of Oregon School of Law. He is a frequent speaker at American Bar Association meetings, academic symposia, and antitrust gatherings.
At Hausfeld, Sathya serves as the firm’s Conflicts and Compliance partner in addition to managing the firm’s marketing efforts (US) and overseeing professional development programs for attorneys. He is also a member of the firm’s Global Business Development and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committees. Working towards a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world is paramount for Sathya, and he is an active member of our Disability Rights working group.
Clients
Representative clients include:
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
- CRH Americas
- Denver Film Society
- Ed O’Bannon
- Lotte Global Logistics
- Peabody Energy
- PepsiCo
- Run Gum
- Sims Metal Management
- The Avalon Theatre
- Trammo
- Yelp
EDUCATION
Cornell Law School, J.D. (editor, Cornell Law Review)
Vassar College, B.A. (honors)
BAR ADMISSIONS
California
District of Columbia
AFFILIATIONS
American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, Co-Chair of the Trade, Sports, and Professional Associations Committee (2023-2025)
American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, Vice Chair, Exemptions & Immunities Committee (2022 -2023)
American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, Vice Chair, Trade, Sports and Professional Associations Committee (2020-2023)
American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, Young Lawyer Representative, Transportation and Energy Industries Committee (2013 – 2014)
American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Special Committee on Section, Division, and Forum Coordination Antitrust Representative (2013-2014)
American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, Member (2010 - Present)
American Bar Foundation, Elected Fellow
Law 360, Sports Editorial Advisory Board (2016-2018)
The George Washington University Law School, Professorial Lecturer in Law (2019)
WHAT OTHERS SAY
American Antitrust Institute
- Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice: an honor he received as part of the O’Bannon v. NCAA case team in 2015.
Chambers and Partners
- Band 2, Antitrust: Mainly Plaintiff - Washington, D.C., in 2025
- Band 3, Antitrust: Mainly Plaintiff - Nationwide, in 2025
Concurrences
Global Competition Review
- Finalist, Lawyer of the Year – Under 40 in 2017
- Litigation of the Year - Non-Cartel Prosecution: an honor he received as part of the O’Bannon v. NCAA case team in 2015.
International Municipal Lawyers Association
- Amicus Service Award in 2024
Law360
- Named one of Law360's Legal Lions of the Week in June 2024 ("Susman Godfrey LLP, Hausfeld LLP and Langer Grogan & Diver PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal jury awarded $4.7 billion to two classes of DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers in an antitrust trial against the National Football League and its teams.")
- Named one of just five top lawyers under the age of 40 leading the class-action field in 2014.
- Sathya has an "adept skill set," a "penchant for high-stakes litigation," and "close attention to detail." (Law360, 2014)
Lawdragon
- 500 Leading Litigators in America in 2025
- 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers since 2019
- 500 Leading Global Antitrust & & Competition Lawyers in 2025
The Legal 500
- Recommended Lawyer, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Plaintiff since 2017
- A "young star" who "works on the most complex cases brilliantly." (Legal 500 US, Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Plaintiff, 2017)
Super Lawyers
- Super Lawyer, Antitrust Litigation in 2022
- Rising Star, Antitrust Litigation from 2016-2021
Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal)
- Recommended Lawyer, Sports & Gaming since 2023
EXPERIENCE
Antitrust/Competition
Recent engagements include:
- In re NFL’s Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation – Sathya served as trial counsel on behalf of residential and commercial subscriber plaintiffs alleging that the National Football League (“NFL”) and its teams violated the antitrust laws through media-rights agreements that suppressed the output of, and raised the price for, out-of-market game telecasts. At the conclusion of a four-week trial, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs and awarded $4.7 billion in damages (subject to a subsequent ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law and now on appeal).
- O’Bannon v. NCAA – Serving as trial counsel in the landmark litigation, in which Sathya examined and cross-examined witnesses at trial, deposed key NCAA executives, briefed complex constitutional issues advanced by the NCAA and television networks, and helped negotiate a $40 million settlement with Electronic Arts, Inc., which was distributed among current and former college athletes.
- Yelp v. Google - Hausfeld represents Yelp in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that Google has unlawfully monopolized or attempted to monopolize the markets for local search services and local search advertising. The case challenges Google’s self-preferencing behavior and its leveraging of dominance in general search services to prioritize its own local search results over Google's own organic search results.
- In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation – Serving as counsel to dozens of rail-freight shippers in a high-profile antitrust case concerning alleged fuel-surcharge collusion among the nation’s largest rail-freight carriers.
- Representing specialty-film exhibitors in antitrust litigation concerning a dominant theater chain’s abuse of its nationwide ‘circuit’ power to coerce film distributors into undesirable exclusivity arrangements that harm competition.
- Representing health plans–alongside 47 state attorneys general–that allege that the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers fixed prices and allocated markets on dozens of generic drugs, injuring patients and their insurers through dramatically higher prices.
Human Rights
- Submitting an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of international human-rights scholars urging the Court to grant review as to whether customary international law excuses exhaustion of local remedies where a state accused of wrongdoing unduly delays the local remedial process.
Intellectual Property
- Representing a leading software manufacturer in copyright-infringement litigation against the federal government.
- Defending an apparel retailer against false intellectual-property infringement claims.
Sports & Entertainment
- Representing a corporate sponsor of track & field athletes in first-of-its-kind antitrust litigation against the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Track & Field concerning unduly restrictive limitations on athlete sponsorships.
- Negotiating a favorable settlement for a royalty-rights holder in the college athletics space.
- Obtaining a complete judgment for an internationally acclaimed DJ in commercial litigation.
Environmental & Product Liability
- Submitting an amicus brief in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the International Municipal Lawyers Association, in support of the District of Columbia and asserting that there is no federal common-law basis to extinguish state-court jurisdiction for state-law claims concerning injuries arising from climate-change consequences.
