Peter Thomas is Managing Partner of Simpson Thacher’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the Firm's Litigation Department. Mr. Thomas has extensive experience in large, complex commercial litigations and arbitrations, particularly in the areas of antitrust and international arbitration. He also advises clients in transactions subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The Firm’s Washington, D.C. office concentrates primarily on antitrust litigation and merger enforcement, international investment treaty and commercial arbitrations, and governmental and internal investigations, including securities enforcement matters.  

Mr. Thomas’s recent experience includes representing:  Admeld in successfully obtaining antitrust clearance in December 2011 by the Department of Justice of its proposed acquisition by Google following a Second Request investigation; Datatel and Hellman & Friedman in successfully obtaining antitrust clearance in December 2011 by the Department of Justice of Datatel’s proposed combination with SunGard Higher Education following a Second Request investigation; a major pharmaceutical company in multiple trials in an ongoing ICC arbitration with a US manufacturer arising from a dispute over the supply price paid for a product; Quidsi, Inc. (Diapers.com) in obtaining antitrust clearance by the FTC of its acquisition by Amazon.com following a Second Request investigation; The Blackstone Group, L.P. in an ongoing putative class action antitrust litigation brought against private equity firms alleging collusive bidding practices; Oil Basins Limited in a successful ad hoc oil and gas royalty arbitration in Melbourne, Australia; AdMob in connection with the final stages of a Second Request investigation and in preparing to defend against a possible FTC enforcement action related to its proposed acquisition by Google; the Dominican Republic in two international investment treaty arbitrations and a companion ICC case stemming from privatization of the country’s electricity sector; the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) in obtaining CFIUS clearance of its proposed $19.2 billion investment in Rio Tinto; LBA Y.K., in a proceeding under 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 to obtain evidence for use in a Tokyo District Court action against Marubeni Corporation; DoubleClick in obtaining FTC clearance of its acquisition by Google following a Second Request investigation; MasterCard International through trial and related proceedings on its successful motion to enforce the final judgment against Visa U.S.A. in a Department of Justice antitrust enforcement action; New Brunswick Power in international litigation proceedings against the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company and a subsidiary; Accenture in various commercial disputes, litigations and arbitrations, as well as through trial and a successful final award against the Andersen Worldwide network of member firms in the largest multi-party arbitration ever conducted under the ICC Rules; British Energy through trial and a successful final award in an arbitration arising from a long-term power purchase agreement.

Mr. Thomas joined Simpson Thacher in September 1984 and was elected to partnership in October 1992. He received his B.A. with High Honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980 and received his J.D. in 1984 from the U.C.L.A. School of Law where he was Order of the Coif.

Honors/Associations

•	Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics, 1994-1997
•	Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Professional Discipline, 1991-1994
•	American Bar Association
•	International Bar Association

Publications

•	Revised HSR Act Thresholds
•	Guidelines for Executives Receiving Company Shares in Light of Recent HSR Act Enforcement Action
•	Supreme Court Considers Tolling of Statute of Limitations in Section 16(b) Claims
•	The Supreme Court Finds State Failure-to-Warn Claims Against Generic Drug Manufacturers Impliedly Preempted
•	The Supreme Court Limits Rule 10b-5 Liability to Person or Entity Making Alleged Misstatement
•	The Supreme Court Rejects Loss Causation Requirement at Class Certification Stage
•	The Supreme Court Holds that Reformation of ERISA Plan Terms Due to False or Misleading Plan Summaries Does Not Strictly Require a Showing of Detrimental Reliance
•	Supreme Court Finds the Discover Bank Rule Preempted by FAA
•	The Supreme Court Considers Loss Causation at Time of Class Certification
•	The Supreme Court Considers Implied Preemption of Failure-to-Warn Claims Against Generic Drug Manufacturers
•	The Supreme Court Rejects Bright-Line Rule on Disclosure of Adverse Event Reports
•	The Supreme Court Finds No Conflict Pre-emption Based on Federal Seatbelt Regulation
•	The Supreme Court Finds Design Defect Claims Preempted under the Vaccine Act
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Materiality Requirement in the Context of Drug Companies’ Disclosure of Adverse Event Reports
•	European Commission Issues Revised Rules on Horizontal Cooperation
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Liability of Investment Advisers in Federal Securities Fraud Cases
•	The Supreme Court Examines Requirements for ERISA Plan Beneficiaries to Recover Additional Benefits Based on Inconsistency Between the Plan’s Summary Plan Description and the Plan Itself
•	The Supreme Court Considers Whether the FAA Preempts State Court Decision Holding Class Arbitration Waiver Unenforceable
•	The Supreme Court Considers Conflict Preemption Case Concerning Federal Seatbelt Regulation
•	The Supreme Court Hears Express Preemption Case Relating to Alleged Vaccine Design Defect
•	European Court of Justice Finds In-House Legal Advice Not Protected by Legal Professional Privilege
•	Delaware Court of Chancery Arbitration Provides Option for Delaware Parties to Resolve Disputes with Foreign Counterparties
•	DOJ and FTC Issue Revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines
•	The Supreme Court Affirms the Constitutional Validity of the PCAOB; Strikes Down “Double For-Cause” Removal Provisions as Unconstitutional
•	The Supreme Court Limits the Extraterritorial Application of the Antifraud Provisions of the U.S. Securities Laws
•	The Supreme Court Holds That The “Honest-Services” Fraud Statute Covers Only Bribery and Kickback Schemes
•	The Supreme Court Holds That Arbitrators, Not Courts, May Decide Challenges To The Enforceability Of Stand-Alone Arbitration Agreements
•	The Supreme Court Finds NFL Licensing Activities Subject to Rule of Reason Antitrust Scrutiny
•	The Supreme Court Vacates Arbitrators' Decision Allowing Class Arbitration Based Solely On Arbitrators' Own Policy Views
•	The Supreme Court Rejects “Inquiry Notice” as Trigger to Start Running the Statute of Limitations in Securities Fraud Cases
•	The Supreme Court Examines Whether Courts Must Decide the Enforceability of Arbitration Clauses Challenged as Unconscionable
•	The Supreme Court Requires Deference to Plan Administrator’s Interpretation of ERISA Plan Notwithstanding Administrator’s Prior Invalid Interpretation
•	The Supreme Court Adopts the Gartenberg Standard to Determine Whether an Investment Adviser Breached its Fiduciary Duty in Approving Fees
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Application of the Antifraud Provisions of the United States Securities Laws in “Foreign-Cubed” Cases
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Standards Governing the Interpretation of ERISA Plans
•	SEC Announces Significant New Initiatives to Encourage Cooperation in Investigations and Enforcement Actions
•	The Supreme Court Considers Whether the NFL is a "Single Entity" and thus Immune from Antitrust Scrutiny
•	The Supreme Court Considers Whether Class Arbitration is Permitted When the Arbitration Clause is Silent on the Issue
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
•	The Supreme Court Considers the ‘Inquiry Notice’ Standard in Federal Securities Fraud Cases
•	The Heightened Pleading Standard of Twombly Applies to All Federal Civil Claims
•	The Supreme Court Allows Non-Signatories to Arbitration Agreements to Seek to Stay Claims under the Federal Arbitration Act
•	China Blocks Foreign Acquisition of a Chinese Company in an Early Major Test of the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law
•	The Supreme Court Adopts Broader View of Federal Jurisdiction to Hear Motions to Compel Arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act
•	The Supreme Court Hears Argument Concerning the Ability of Non-Signatories to Arbitration Agreements to Stay Claims under the Federal Arbitration Act
•	The Supreme Court Rejects the “Price Squeeze” Theory of Illegal Monopolization
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Applicability of the “Price-Squeeze” Theory of Illegal Monopolization
•	Treasury Issues Final Regulations for Foreign Investments Subject to Review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Extent of Federal Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under the FAA
•	Peter C. Thomas, Arman Y. Oruc, and Michael C. Naughton, Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions, in ANTITRUST COUNSELING AND LITIGATION TECHNIQUES (Julian O. von Kalinowski ed., LexisNexis Group 2009)
•	Whole Foods/Wild Oats: D.C. Circuit Reverses and Remands on Motion to Preliminarily Enjoin Already Consummated Merger
•	The Supreme Court Limits Punitive Damages Award In The Exxon Valdez Case To 1:1 Ratio To Compensatory Damages
•	The U.S. Treasury Department Issues Proposed National Security Regulations for Foreign Investments Falling Within the Purview of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
•	Lifting the Fog: Google/DoubleClick Demystified
•	The Supreme Court Rules Against TV’s “Judge Alex,” Finding That an Agreement to Arbitrate Trumps State Administrative Process
•	The European Court of First Instance Upholds the European Commission’s Finding that Microsoft Abused its Dominant Position
•	Reform Of The CFIUS Process In The Wake Of Dubai Ports World
•	Supreme Court Holds That Minimum Resale Price Maintenance is Not a Per Se Violation of Antitrust Law
•	Supreme Court Rules that IPO Litigation is Immune from Antitrust Scrutiny
•	Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly: Raising the Bar for Pleadings by Antitrust Plaintiffs
•	US Discovery in Aid of International Legal Proceedings: Developments Since the Intel Decision under Section 1782, DAJV Newsletter (German-American Lawyers Association) (December 2006)
•	"Ex Parte Communications with ICC (And Other International) Arbitrators:  Drawing Ethical Lines"  (ICC Charlottesville Conference, June 2005)
•	Co-Author of Foreign Sovereign Immunity After The Altmann Decision, in Mealey's International Arbitration Report:  Volume 19, Issue #7 (2004)
•	Co-Author and participant in 'Bet-The-Company Litigation' Roundtable Discussion in The National Law Journal, July 30, 2001
•	Andersen v. Andersen, The Claimant's Perspective, Co-Author, The American Review of International Arbitration, 1999
•	Consolidation of International Arbitrations in the United States in the Wake of Boeing, The American Review of International Arbitration (Published in 1995), 1993
•	Disqualifying Lawyers in Arbitrations: Do the Arbitrators Play Any Proper Role?, The American Review of International Arbitration, 1990

Speaking Engagements

•	Peter Thomas Speaks on ABA Brown Bag Lunch Panel on “Mergers and Acquisitions: Antitrust Due Diligence” December 9, 2010
•	Peter Thomas Participates in Cornerstone-sponsored Panel Discussion on Issues in Pharmaceutical and Biologics Markets December 8, 2010
•	Peter C. Thomas Speaks at National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty Event July 9, 2010

Admissions

•	District of Columbia 2006
•	New York 1985
•	U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York 1988
•	U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1988
•	U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 2006

Education

•	UCLA School of Law, 1984 J.D. Order of the Coif
•	University of California at Berkeley, 1980 B.A. With High Honors; Phi Beta Kappa