Dispute resolution
Barrett Reasoner at Gibbs & Bruns LLP continues to lead high-stakes commercial disputes across sectors including retail, energy, and legal services. He currently serves as lead trial counsel for major U.S. retailers in a $17bn antitrust action against Visa and Mastercard. His docket includes a $200mmalpractice defense for Winston & Strawn LLP and a $90 million trade secret dispute that was resolved favorably. Reasoner maintains a balanced plaintiff-defense practice, regularly handling complex, high-value matters nationwide.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Houston Elite
Profile
Position
Partner, Gibbs & Bruns LLP
Career
With over three decades of trial practice, Barrett Reasoner’s complex commercial litigation practice spans a broad array of areas, including energy, construction, environmental, securities, antitrust, intellectual property, and prisoner civil rights cases. Barrett has served as a party-appointed arbitrator in several arbitrations and has arbitrated numerous matters for clients during his tenure.
Barrett is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and The International Society of Barristers and a member of the American Law Institute.
He is effective in resolving matters and I enjoy working with him. He is critical in helping us reach favorable resolutions.
Barrett is incredibly talented. He is a very good trial lawyer, understands exactly the result we want and is ruthless in his approach.
Barrett prepares very well. He relates with juries, takes a difficult topic and makes it easy for a jury to understand.
- Chambers 2024
Highly celebrated name for major disputes.
Known for his exceptional work in the energy sector.
- Legal 500
He’s a very good trial lawyer, He has a very calm and collected way of looking at cases and a very efficient approach.
He’s a fantastic lawyer who is great in court.
An excellent all-round attorney and person.
Barrett has a great legal mind and is extremely prepared. He has a deft courtroom presence.
He is a very good lawyer who is thorough and outcome-oriented. He starts with where you want to end up and gets you there.
- Chambers USA
Upon graduation from law school in 1990, Barrett was an Assistant District Attorney for Harris County (Houston), Texas. Barrett joined Gibbs & Bruns in 1992 and became a partner in 1996.
Barrett recently served as a Representative for District 4 on the State Bar of Texas' Board of Directors. He is a former President of the Houston Bar Association, the fifth largest metropolitan bar association in the nation with nearly 12,000 members. He is a past chair and member of the Houston Bar Association Foundation Board where he also led the fundraising drive for the Kay Sim Endowment, which raised approximately $1.7 million for the Foundation to fund legal services for those who cannot afford them.
Content supplied by Gibbs & Bruns LLP
Key clients
- The Target Plaintiffs Group
- Occidental Petroleum
- Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
- Winston & Strawn LLP
- WaterBridge Resources LLC
- Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore LP
Work highlights
Lead trial counsel in a $17 billion+ antitrust suit against Visa and Mastercard over alleged price-fixing of interchange fees.
Defending Winston & Strawn LLP in a $200m legal malpractice and fiduciary duty suit related to an oil and gas transaction.
Represented WaterBridge in a $90 million lawsuit brought by former vendor SitePro, involving claims of trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement, and contract breaches related to SCADA systems for water disposal facilities.