Attorney Picture

Education

J.D., Harvard University, 1967

A.B., Davidson College, 1964

Professional Recognition

American College of Trial Lawyers: Fellow

Virginia Law Foundation: Fellow

American Bar Foundation: Fellow

Best Lawyers in America, Antitrust Law, Appellate Law, Banking Law, Commercial Litigation, First Amendment Law

Norfolk Best Lawyers Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year (2012)

AV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell

Recognized as a leading Commercial Litigator in the 2005-2013 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business

Virginia's "Legal Elite," Virginia Business magazine

Virginia Super Lawyers "Top 50" in state

Benchmark Litigation: leading litigator, Virginia

Memberships

Virginia State Bar

American Bar Association

Virginia Bar Association

Norfolk Portsmouth Bar Association

Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Judicial Conference, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Leadership

Norfolk Portsmouth Bar Association: Former President

Virginia State Bar Section of Antitrust Law: Former Chairman

Virginia State Bar Second District Disciplinary Committee: Former Chairman

Conrad M. Shumadine

Member

Norfolk

(757) 628-5525 cshumadine@wilsav.com cshumadine@wilsav.com v-Card Print to PDF

Practice Areas

Antitrust, Commercial Litigation and First Amendment Litigation

Profile

Conrad M. Shumadine has practiced in the First Amendment area for more than 35 years.  He is listed among The Best Lawyers of America in the areas of First Amendment, Antitrust, Financial Institutions and Transactions, and Business Litigation.  He has argued First Amendment matters before the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Virginia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and numerous lower courts.
 

Conrad is a permanent member of the faculty of the Practising Law Institute Communications Law Seminars, a yearly seminar for communications lawyers.  He has lectured at seven Practising Law Institute national libel seminars.  In addition, he regularly lectures at state CLE programs and to media groups throughout the United States.

In addition to practicing First Amendment law, Conrad has an active commercial litigation practice with special expertise in antitrust matters.  He serves as special antitrust counsel to eight media companies.  In addition to representing media companies, he has represented firms and industries varying from toys to shoes to health care.

Conrad graduated from Harvard Law School in 1967 and has an undergraduate degree from Davidson College.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation.  He is a permanent member of the Judicial Conference of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 2000, he served as Chairman of the Merit Selection Panel for the United States Magistrate Judge vacancy and was appointed to the 1995-96 Civil Justice Advisory Group for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.  He is Past President of the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association and served on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Silver Star Foundation and the Virginia Public Safety Foundation. 

 

 

Experience

  • Assisted a small publisher in Arkansas in preventing two of its competitors from being acquired by a national media conglomerate or its agent.

  • Successfully defended McClatchy Newspapers, Inc. from a challenge made to its $300 million acquisition of the News & Observer Publishing Company in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • Successfully represented the News & Observer Publishing Company (publisher of the Raleigh News & Observer) in obtaining summary judgment in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by AD/SAT, Inc. alleging that the News & Observer participated with the Associated Press and others in a conspiracy to monopolize the market for satellite advertising distribution.

  • Represented a joint venture composed of major New York Stock Exchange and private companies registered under the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 on how the joint venture should operate to avoid antitrust difficulties.

  • Continued to assist in the representation of a major chemical company in defending the company in connection with a price fixing investigation undertaken by the United States Department of Justice.

  • Assisted another New York Stock Exchange company in completing a major acquisition involving pre-merger notification pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

  • Continued to provide ongoing antitrust counseling, including antitrust compliance seminars, to a whole series of clients.

  • Obtained Justice Department clearance for The Arkansas Democrat to acquire its direct competitor, The Arkansas Gazette.

  • Represented The Anchorage Times in the sale of substantially all of its assets to The Anchorage Daily News.

  • Obtained a directed verdict in favor of a nationwide toy manufacturer accused of discriminatory pricing and monopolization.

  • Obtained a directed verdict on discriminatory pricing and promotion claims brought against a foreign automobile manufacturer.

  • Defended the president of a national soft drink company against criminal price fixing charges and a class action lawsuit.

  • Represented the only defendant to obtain summary judgment on price fixing and horizontal market division claims brought against four dairy companies by the Virginia Attorney General.

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a nationwide newspaper chain in an antitrust action brought in the Northern District of Mississippi.  The case involved claims of discriminatory pricing and predatory pricing.

  • Obtained summary judgment on exclusive dealing, monopolization and market division claims brought against a nationwide newspaper chain in Greensboro, North Carolina.

  • Obtained a substantial settlement and a consent decree governing future competition for a western Virginia newspaper in danger of being run out of business by its competitor's predatory pricing.