Amex Not Liable on Antitrust Claims in Trial Victory

On August 28, 2025, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York unanimously concluded that Cravath clients American Express Company and American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., (together, "Amex") are not liable for antitrust claims in a class action suit, brought by a class of debit card users and non-rewards credit card users from eight states and Washington, D.C., alleging that the company's non-discrimination provisions are anticompetitive.

Plaintiffs had asserted Amex violated the Sherman Act as well as the antitrust and consumer protection statutes of various states. In 2020 and 2021, the court granted Amex's early dispositive motions, eliminating several state law antitrust and consumer protection claims as well as the federal Sherman Act claim. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in July 2023 and, in January 2024, the court granted in part plaintiffs' motion for class certification, certifying said class of debit card users and non-rewards credit card users from eight states and Washington, D.C. After a trial which began in July 2025, the jury unanimously found that Amex's non-discrimination provisions do not unreasonably restrain trade.

Plaintiffs were seeking over $600 million in damages. While the jury awarded plaintiffs $12.5 million under Illinois consumer laws, it ruled in Amex's favor on all antitrust counts, the core issue at stake in the trial. This was the latest attempt by various plaintiff groups to challenge rules that protect Amex's brand, and which had previously been challenged by the Department of Justice. That prior challenge ultimately went to the Supreme Court, where Amex-also represented by Cravath-prevailed.

The Cravath team was led by partners Kevin J. Orsini, Helam Gebremariam and David H. Korn, along with partners Peter T. Barbur and Rebecca J. Schindel, and included associates Corey Matthews, Alexis Lazarczyk, Rachel Shapiro, Rebecca Spendley, Michael Walker and Jazmine K. Phillips-Acie.

The case is Moskowitz, et al. v. American Express Company, et al., No. 19-cv-00566 (E.D.N.Y.).