Thomas D. Barr

Thomas Delbert Barr (January 23, 1931 — January 24, 2008) was a prominent lawyer at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was born in Kansas City, MO. He graduated from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1953 [ [http://www.umkc.edu/aboutumkc/famousgraduates.asp ABOUT UMKC - UMKC Grads Making A Difference] ] and Yale Law School, and served as an officer in the Marine Corps. He joined Cravath in 1958 [ [http://biz.yahoo.com/nytimes/080131/1194742029948.html?.v=20 NYTimes.com: Thomas Barr, Top Lawyer in I.B.M. Case, Dies at 77] ] and stayed with the firm for more than 40 years. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/business/30barr.html?ex=1359349200&en=0efbb005ba7b87d3&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Thomas Barr, Top Lawyer in I.B.M. Case, Dies at 77] ]

Thomas Barr is best known for representing the International Business Machines Corporation in a 13-year antitrust battle with the federal government, as well as satellite cases by competitors and the EEC. The government began the case in 1969 and dropped it in 1982. For his outstanding efforts and the scale of the case, Thomas Barr is credited as the father of big-case litigation. The case is described in details in "The Partners" by James B. Stewart. Other major cases included Powell v. McCormack, over the attempt to exclude Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. from taking his seat in the US House of Representatives; the defense of "Time Magazine" in the libel case brought by Ariel Sharon, relating to the Sabra and Shatila massacre; the effort to recover on behalf of holders of defaulted municipal bonds issued by Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS); and the prosecution on behalf of the FDIC against Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken over fraudulent junk bonds. His major pro bono work included cases for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

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* [http://www.abajournal.com/news/ex_cravath_lawyer_dies_father_of_big_case_litigation/ ABA Journal: Ex-Cravath Lawyer Dies, Father of ‘Big-Case Litigation’]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920363-1,00.html TIME: The Case of the Century]
* [http://www.cbronline.com/article_cg_print.asp?guid=6F2EF62E-5CB3-4105-BD7E-B68DE86E52F6 Why IBM Can't Wait to See the Back of Judge Edelstein, and why He Refuses to Rescue]