Peter T.
Barbur

Mr. Barbur won dismissal for American Express (“Amex”) of a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 17 state attorneys general alleging that Amex’s nondiscrimination provisions in its merchant agreements violate antitrust laws. This case—one of the largest and most significant cases arising under Section 1 of the Sherman Act that the Government has brought to trial in over a decade—culminated in a nearly two‑month bench trial in July‑August 2014. In September 2016, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s determination that Amex’s merchant acceptance rules violated federal antitrust law and remanded the case “with instructions to enter judgment in favor of Amex.” Mr. Barbur also represented Amex in the appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court. In June 2018, the Supreme Court affirmed the Second Circuit’s judgment in favor of Amex. He previously represented Amex and certain of its directors and officers in a shareholder derivative lawsuit arising from the DOJ’s enforcement action; defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint was granted with prejudice.

Mr. Barbur continues to represent Amex in a putative class action brought on behalf of all U.S. merchants alleging that Amex improperly tied acceptance of certain of its card products to acceptance of other Amex card products. He also represented Amex in a series of putative class actions and individual lawsuits brought by large supermarket and pharmacy chains alleging that Amex’s “anti‑steering” rules violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, which settled in April 2019 following Amex’s victory in the Supreme Court. In January 2020, Mr. Barbur won motions to compel arbitration and to dismiss similar claims brought by two additional putative classes of smaller merchant plaintiffs. The Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal in November 2021.

Mr. Barbur represented Epic Games in its appeal against Apple on Sherman Act claims alleging anticompetitive behavior in the distribution of mobile apps and the handling of in‑app payments, and Apple’s cross‑appeal from a nationwide permanent injunction entered by the district court against Apple’s anti‑steering policies.

Mr. Barbur represented Louis Dreyfus Company LLC and its subsidiary Imperial Sugar in an action brought by the DOJ in Delaware federal court seeking to enjoin U.S. Sugar’s proposed acquisition of Imperial Sugar from Louis Dreyfus. In September 2022, the court issued a post‑trial ruling in favor of the defendants, denying the DOJ’s request for an injunction to block the acquisition, and the Third Circuit unanimously affirmed the ruling in July 2023.

Mr. Barbur represented Sabre, a leading travel technology company, in its successful appeal of a $15 million jury verdict in antitrust litigation brought by US Airways alleging that certain of Sabre’s contract provisions restrained airfare competition. In September 2019, the Second Circuit vacated the jury verdict and remanded for further proceedings.

Mr. Barbur represented Time Warner Inc. as trial counsel in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the DOJ seeking to block the company’s $109 billion sale to AT&T—the government’s first challenge to a vertical merger in decades—securing a victory in June 2018 following a six‑week trial. Mr. Barbur also represented Time Warner on regulatory clearance issues in connection with the merger, which closed two days after the trial decision.

Mr. Barbur also represented Warner Media on antitrust issues in connection with its investment in NewTV, as part of its $1 billion initial funding round, which closed in August 2018. NewTV is a mobile‑first media platform led by Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Mr. Barbur represented Viacom International and Black Entertainment Television in a lawsuit brought by Cablevision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Viacom’s 2012 licensing agreement with Cablevision constituted illegal tying and block‑booking in violation of the Sherman Act and New York’s Donnelly Act.

In addition to his antitrust work, Mr. Barbur won a summary judgment victory for Keppel, a Singapore‑based shipbuilding company, dismissing an action brought by EIG Energy in New York federal court alleging claims for fraud, aiding and abetting fraud and conspiracy. EIG claimed Keppel failed to disclose it was engaged in a bribery scheme with Petrobras—allegedly causing EIG to lose its $221 million investment in a Petrobras‑controlled offshore drilling company. The victory followed Mr. Barbur’s earlier win dismissing EIG’s additional RICO claim as barred under the PSLRA.

Mr. Barbur also represented International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM") in a DOJ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation relating to IBM’s operations in Poland, Argentina, Bangladesh and Ukraine, which closed in June 2017 without any enforcement action. He also represented IBM in an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to IBM’s operations in China and Korea, which settled.

Mr. Barbur previously represented Time Warner in connection with government investigations and private securities litigation concerning financial reporting and disclosure issues arising out of Time Warner’s merger with America Online in 2000.

Additionally, Mr. Barbur represented a special committee appointed by the Eli Lilly Board of Directors to respond to shareholder derivative demands and lawsuits relating to the marketing of Zyprexa.

Mr. Barbur has been recognized by numerous professional publications, including The National Law Journal, which named him a “Litigation Trailblazer” in 2019. The Legal 500 US has recommended him for his antitrust, financial services, patent and media and entertainment work, and The Best Lawyers in America has also recognized him as a leader in antitrust litigation. Benchmark Litigation has included Mr. Barbur on its list of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” and has repeatedly recognized him as a “National Star” in antitrust litigation, as well as a “Litigation Star” in the New York area. In addition, Lawdragon has named Mr. Barbur a nationwide “Legend” and included him in its “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Global Litigators” and “500 Leading Litigators in America” lists.

Mr. Barbur is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aperture Foundation, a member of the Photography Committee at the Whitney Museum of American Art and a member of the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal.

Mr. Barbur received a B.A. magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1983, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law in 1987, where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review, a Root‑Tilden Scholar and elected to the Order of the Coif. Following his graduation, he served as a law clerk to Hon. Hugh H. Bownes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Mr. Barbur joined Cravath in 1988 and was elected a partner in 1994. He is a partner liaison to the Firm's LGBTQ+ Affinity Group.