Partner

Dallas, Texas
Phone: 214.754.1903
Fax: 214.665.0832
bbarnett@susmangodfrey.com*

• Barnett's Notes on Commercial Litigation
• Techniques for Expediting and Streamlining Commercial Litigation
• Print this Profile (PDF)
• Download Business Card
• References
• List of Trials
  
  

BARRY BARNETT, born January 19, 1959, Corsicana, Texas; admitted to bar, 1985, Texas.  Member, Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States of America; United States Courts of Appeals, Fifth and Tenth Circuits; United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas, the District of Arizona, and the District of Colorado.

You and Me

This profile tells you about me – mostly about my credentials as a business trial lawyer.  But guess what?  I want to know about you. 

Yes, you.  I have to understand you, your situation, and your goals before I can help you solve your problem.

So, as you read about me, consider whether I sound like someone you can trust.  Somebody  who will do every honest and ethical thing to help you achieve the best outcome for you.  An individual you’ll enjoy working with.

A profile tells you only so much about a lawyer.  You probably wouldn’t guess from what appears below, for example, that I grew up in Nacogdoches, Texas; that I sang in the All-Region Choir; that I played football in high school and college; or that my dad worked as a roughneck and my mom as a secretary.  So, as you get to know a little about me, remember that I need to hear about – and from – you.

Education and Clerkship

Yale University (B.A., Economics and History (honors), magna cum laude, 1981); legal education, Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1984).  Law Clerk to The Honorable Jerre S. Williams, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (1984-85).

Professional Honors

Member, American Law Institute.  Chambers USA:  America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Antitrust and General Commercial Litigation (2007).  The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation (2003-2007). Texas Super Lawyer in Business Litigation (2003-2007).  Who’s Who Legal: Texas 2007 (competition).  The Legal 500 U.S. (2007) (mass tort and class actions).

Publications and Presentations

Co-author, “Techniques for Expediting and Streamlining Litigation” for American Bar Association Section of Litigation’s second edition of Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts (2005-07). Creator and blogger-in-chief, Blawgletter.  Editor, Barnett’s Notes on Commercial Litigation, winner of Advocatus Diaboli Grand Prize award for law firm newsletters (2006).  

Author and speaker at continuing legal education seminars, including “Class Action Settlements:  Procedures, Methods, and Attorneys’ Fees” for the Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio Bar Ass’n and as panel moderator on "Effective Management and Trial of a Patent Case: The Symbiotic Relationship of In-House and Trial Counsel" for the State Bar of Texas Intellectual Property Law Section seminar at the Bar's annual meeting.

Business and Professional Affiliations

Trustee, Greenhill School. Alumnus member, Texas Lyceum. Member, State Bar of Texas; American Bar Association; American Association for Justice; Dallas Bar Association; Houston Bar Association; Yale Club of Dallas; Harvard Club of Dallas; Yale Club of New York City. Fellow, Dallas Legal Foundation and Houston Legal Foundation.

Litigation Experience

My experience in commercial trial law has involved lawsuits and arbitrations regarding:

• Antitrust
• Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets
• Securities fraud
• Insurance coverage
• Oil and gas
• Fiduciary duties
• Minority shareholders
• Corporate control
• Stock purchase and shareholder agreements
• Golden parachute agreements
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act
• Partnerships
• Sexual harassment and discrimination
• Lender liability
• Covenants not to compete

Cases have ranged from two-party lawsuits to class actions involving millions.

Examples of Clients

Public companies:  Cisco Systems, EMC, ENSCO, New Century Financial, and Belo Corp.

Private companies:  Gobeli Research, Swift Cash, Wagner & Brown, Ltd., and Morris & Dickson Co.

Governmental entities:  Provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Ontario and the Ector County, Midland, and Nacogdoches Independent School Districts.

Fee Arrangements

Contingent.  A percentage of your recovery.

Hourly. 

Flat fee.  Monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

Bonus for results. 

Some References

The names, titles, and telephone numbers of several people who personally know my recent work appear below.  Please feel free to call or write them for frank evaluations. **

*Internet mail is not fully secure or private. Therefore, please do not transmit confidential information via Internet mail. Transmission of information is not intended to and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not assume that your communications sent using Internet mail are privileged or confidential. Please do not send Susman Godfrey any confidential information via the Internet without previously consulting one of our attorneys.

**Nothing on this web page is intended to represent that Susman Godfrey currently represents any particular clients mentioned because matters and client relationships naturally terminate from time to time.

Bill the Buffalo