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Image: Barry G. Sher

Barry G. Sher

Partner, Litigation Department

New York

Phone: 1(212) 318-6085
Fax: 1(212) 230-5185

Overview

Barry Sher is a partner in the Litigation department of Paul Hastings. He served for more than a decade as Chair of the department. He is recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for both Commercial Litigation and Securities Litigation; Euromoney’s Benchmark: America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys; and as one of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He has earned the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating, was named by The American Lawyer as its Litigator of the Week, and is a recipient of the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, awarded each year for excellence in legal writing. Mr. Sher is admitted to the bar in New York. He is admitted to practice before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, and Sixth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Western District of Michigan.

He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, with honors, where he was a member of the Law Review, and from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School undergraduate program, with honors.

Recognitions

  • The Legal 500 - Financial Services Litigation, General Commercial Disputes, Securities Litigation: Defense, M&A Litigation: Defense, Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense, and Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Individuals
  • Chambers USA - Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2); Securities
  • The Legal 500 - Financial Services Litigation, General Commercial Disputes, Securities Litigation: Defense, M&A Litigation: Defense, and Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense
  • Benchmark Litigation Guide, Litigation Star and National Practice Area Star (2023, 2025)
  • Lawdragon, 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
  • Super Lawyers (2023)
  • The American Lawyer, Litigator of the Week (2012)

Education

  • University of Chicago Law School, J.D. (with honors, member of the Law Review), 1989
  • Wharton School University of Pennsylvania, B.S. (with honors), 1986 

Representations

  • Goldman Sachs  – Mr. Sher represents Goldman Sachs in securities and antitrust cases brought in state and federal courts around the country.
  • Barclays – Mr. Sher and his team represent Barclays in a number of cases and recently won key victories in successive Sherman Act cases.
  • Royal Bank of Canada – Mr. Sher represents RBC in various matters, including a recent successful defense of a federal antitrust action.
  • Appaloosa Management – Mr. Sher has represented Appaloosa in many cases over the years, including in adversary proceedings in the General Motors, Washington Mutual and Delphi Automotive bankruptcies and matters relating to the Carolina Panthers.
  • Cushman & Wakefield – Mr. Sher led the successful defense of multi-billion dollar class actions claiming RICO violations, fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a series of secured loan transactions and argued the subsequent appeals of these cases in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, both of which affirmed.
  • Starwood Capital – Mr. Sher is defending Starwood in various matters relating to its retail portfolio.
  • The Irvine Company – Mr. Sher is representing The Irvine Company in a large real estate arbitration.
  • FIM Advisers  – Mr. Sher and his team obtained dismissal of a purported class action brought by investors in funds managed by Kingate Management Ltd. The Kingate Funds were feeder funds to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Services.  This team also successfully obtained dismissal of clawback claims brought by the trustee for the Madoff bankruptcy.
  • Korean Airlines – Mr. Sher led the defense of our client in the In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, a multi-district litigation in the Eastern District of New York relating to alleged price-fixing in the global air cargo business.
  • UBS – Mr. Sher defended UBS in HSH v. UBS, in which the plaintiff claimed that UBS had committed fraud in connection with a synthetic CDO transaction. Mr. Sher argued the case in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, and in a widely cited opinion the court dismissed the claim and agreed that contractual provisions negotiated by sophisticated parties must be upheld and enforced. Mr. Sher’s successful defense of this matter resulted in his being named Litigator of the Week by the American Lawyer.
  • Invensys plc – Mr. Sher won summary judgment in favor of Invensys in a long-running litigation in the Southern District of New York. The dispute arose out of the sale of Invensys' packaging business to Owens-Illinois, Inc. for approximately $3.6 billion. On appeal to the Second Circuit, which Mr. Sher argued, the Court affirmed the dismissal and ended the case.
  • Brown & Brown, Inc. – Mr. Sher defended one of the country's top ten insurance brokers in In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation, which consolidated numerous class actions alleging violations of the federal antitrust laws, RICO, and other federal and state statutes in connection with "contingent commissions" and other insurance broker compensation issues. Mr. Sher was appointed by the Court to the Defendants' Steering Committee and argued the motions to dismiss in the case, which resulted in dismissal of all claims against Brown & Brown.
  • Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. – Mr. Sher led the defense of MSO and a number of its directors and officers in the civil cases stemming from Ms. Stewart’s sale of ImClone Systems stock.

news

Engagement & Publications

Mr. Sher has written, co-written and spoken on a number of topics, including the following:

  • “ISDA Derivatives and Communicating Notice,” Stay Current, April 20, 2020
  • “Subprime Mortgage Litigation Trends: Standing and Causation Defenses,” Client Alert (February 2018)
  • “The Revival of a Four Year—Old Trade Secrets Prosecution May Shed Light on Whether the U.S. Government Can Effect Service on Foreign Corporations Without a U.S. Presence,” Client Alert (January 2016)
  • “Hedge Fund Report: Summary of Key Developments - Fall 2015,” Client Alert (December 2015)
  • “What Are the Top Five U.S. Litigation Trends for Korean Companies to Follow in 2016?”  Client Alert (November 2015)
  • “Hedge Fund Report - Summary of Key Developments - Spring 2015,” Client Alert (June 2015)
  • “Hedge Fund Report—Summary of Key Developments - Fall 2014,” Client Alert (December 2014)
  • “Hedge Fund Report - Summary of Key Developments - Spring 2014,” Client Alert (May 2014)
  • “Searching for an Efficient Market with Cross-Listed Securities: Denial of Class Certification in Deutsche Bank Illustrates Increased Scrutiny of the Fraud on the Market Doctrine,” Client Alert (November 2013)

Practice Areas

Complex Litigation and Arbitration

Litigation

Securities Litigation

Antitrust and Competition


Languages

English


Admissions

New York Bar


Education

The University of Chicago Law School, J.D. 1989

The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania, B.A. 1986