Scott Barnard’s practice involves a wide range of business litigation in both federal and state court. He handles complex commercial trial work, including class actions, business torts, fraud actions, commercial contract disputes, commercial real estate litigation and trade secret disputes.
Mr. Barnard also represents public companies, directors and officers, broker-dealers and board committees in securities fraud class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits and FINRA securities arbitrations. Additionally, he represents clients on corporate governance matters and investigations initiated by either the company or a regulatory enforcement agency. Mr. Barnard also advises companies, as well as officers and directors, on insurance and indemnification issues.
Mr. Barnard has extensive civil trial experience, handling several matters as lead trial counsel in both jury trials and arbitrations. Previously, he served as an assistant district attorney with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office, where he tried more than 25 jury trials to verdict.
Mr. Barnard is currently a member of the Dallas office’s diversity committee.
Mr. Barnard received his B.A. from Trinity University and his J.D. cum laude from the Southern Methodist University School of Law, where he was a member and an editor of the SMU Law Review. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association and the Dallas Bar Foundation. Mr. Barnard is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th, 10th and 11th Circuits; and the U.S. District courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas. Mr. Barnard also serves on the executive committee for the American Heart Association’s Cotes du Coeur gala and the Dallas Chapter of the Trinity University Alumni Association. He graduated from the Leadership Dallas class of 2009. Mr. Barnard has also served as a Barrister with the Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court from 2010 to the present.
From 2007 through 2009, Mr. Barnard was named in a survey of his peers as one of “The Best Lawyers in Dallas” by D Magazine. Additionally, from 2004 to 2011, Mr. Barnard was named in a survey of his peers in the Texas legal field as a “Texas Rising Star” by Texas Monthly.
Representative Matters
- lead defense counsel in a state court jury trial for a Fortune 50 company, resulting in a complete defense verdict and recovery of client’s attorneys’ fees
- defended a Fortune 500 company in shareholder derivative actions in Delaware Chancery Court, Texas state court, and Texas federal court against highly-publicized allegations of stock option backdating
- defended a Fortune 500 energy corporation in a shareholder class action and shareholder derivative actions
- lead defense counsel in a state court jury trial for a global manufacturing company, resulting in complete dismissal of claims during trial
- lead counsel in obtaining complete dismissal for breach of contract, defamation and business tort claims for a Fortune 100 company in federal court in New Mexico affirmed by the Tenth Circuit in a published opinion at Cory v. Allstate Ins., 583 F.3d 1240 (10th Cir. 2009)
- obtained dismissals of three separate state court class actions for a Fortune 500 energy corporation, two of which were appealed and affirmed
- trial counsel for leading contractor and manufacturer of sophisticated aircraft structural components prosecuting a $70 million arbitration claim brought against the manufacturer and seller of high-end private business jets
- represented an audit committee of a public banking services company in an internal investigation and before the SEC
- conducted an internal investigation for a Fortune 100 company regarding employee embezzlement
- successfully defended insurance company in class action, affirmed by the Texas Supreme Court in a published opinion at Fireman’s Fund County Mutual Insurance Co. v. Hidi, 13 S.W.3d 767 (Tex. 2000)
Presentations
- “Attorney-Client Privilege Landmines for In-House Counsel,” ABA Section of Litigation Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar, Naples, Florida, February 2011
- “Current Ethical Issues in Global Anti-Corruption,” Guest Lecturer for the Global Legal Executive MBA Program, University of Texas at Dallas, 2010 and 2011
- “Current Issues in Attorney-Client Privilege Law Facing In-House Counsel,” Dallas In-House CLE Presentation, June 2005 and June 2007
- “Myths Concerning the Attorney-Client Privilege,” February 2008