Barry M. Parsons is Counsel with the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He specializes in tort (including products liability), complex commercial contract, and insurance law. He has also represented clients in a number of class action, antitrust and constitutional law cases, among others.

Barry has wide-ranging experience in complex litigation and regularly litigates and counsels clients on issues arising in the consumer products, chemical, media, communications, mining, aviation, construction, finance, and insurance industries. He has unique experience in the use of, and challenges to, expert testimony including in the fields of science, medicine, economics, finance, and accounting. Among others, he has successfully argued and authored briefs resulting in the exclusion of unqualified and improper expert opinions. See Bowen v. DuPont, 2005 WL 1952859 (Del. Super. Ct. June 23, 2005), aff’d, 906 A.2d 787 (Del. 2006). He has also authored several articles addressing Daubert standards to keep “junk” expert testimony out of the court room. Martindale-Hubbell has recognized Barry with a BV ® peer-review rating.

Prior to joining Crowell & Moring, Barry was a judicial clerk for the Honorable William O. Bertelsman, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. During his clerkship, he served as an adjunct faculty member at Northern Kentucky University's Chase College of Law. He previously taught legal research and writing at George Mason University School of Law. Before attending law school, Barry worked as a business consultant for major systems consulting company and as a financial analyst for a mid-Atlantic telecommunications company.

Education and Bar Memberships

Barry received his J.D., with distinction (magna cum laude equivalent), from the George Mason University School of Law in 1995. In law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the George Mason Law Review and a Dean’s Scholar. He also holds a M.B.A. from The American University (1990) and a B.S. in Economics from King’s College (1987).

Barry is licensed to practice in the Virginia and District of Columbia courts as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Kentucky, and the District of Columbia. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Litigation and Science and Technology Law Sections. In the ABA Litigation Section, he is a member of the Mass Torts, Products Liability, and Insurance Coverage Committees.

Commitment to Diversity and Public Service

Barry is an advocate for diversity in the legal profession and active in service to the community. He has served on the Firm’s Recruiting, Associate, Summer Associate, Diversity, and Diversity Scholarship Committees. In 2004, he was a member of the Advisory Panel for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s (“MCCA”) Annual Meeting. At that conference, he was a member of a panel that addressed law firm efforts to include gay and lesbian attorneys in their diversity efforts. Barry has also participated in numerous other MCCA conferences and focus group meetings.

For seven years, Barry was a member of Whitman Walker Clinic’s Legal Services Operating Committee. He previously served on the Washington, D.C. AidsWalk CORE Committee for Legal Services and regularly represents pro bono clients in child custody, guardianship, and civil rights matters. He also serves as a mentor to several law students. In recognition of his Firm and community activities, in 2004 and 2006, Barry was a recipient of Crowell & Moring’s Firm Citizenship Award and in 2006 received the Crowell & Moring Pro Bono Award.

Representative Matters:

• Represents a major telecommunications company in various class actions filed under federal and state law.
• Represents a national retailer in a purported class action alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• Represents a major coal mining company in a commercial contract dispute with a large mining equipment manufacturer.
• Represents a Fortune 100 company in a successful series of product liability cases alleging that exposure to a chemical caused birth defects. The cases involve significant toxicology, epidemiology, teratology, genetics, ophthalmology, dermal absorption, and exposure issues, international discovery, and application of foreign law.
• Counsels and represents in litigation a large entertainment company on issues involving tort, contract, and insurance law with regard to reality series, contests, programming, and contract disputes.
• Represents insurance companies in numerous matters involving the applicability of insurance coverage for asbestos exposure and for other underlying legal claims.
• Counseled a major company on all aspects regarding the development of a company-wide document retention policy.
• Represented a Fortune 100 company in a series of cases alleging that components made by the company contributed to aviation crashes.
• Represented a major communications manufacturer in a product liability action alleging wrongful death resulting from design and manufacturing defects.
• Represented an individual held hostage for sixteen months in litigation against a state sponsor of terrorism.
• Represented a major manufacturer of home building supplies in antitrust litigation involving alleged price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act.
• Advised various manufacturers on the product liability law implications of decisions they faced about their products.
• Wrote numerous trial and appellate briefs, including amicus briefs, on issues involving the admissibility of expert testimony, tort and product liability law, and constitutional law.
• Represented a major investment company in a contentious third party discovery dispute.

Education
King’s College, B.S., 1987
American University, M.B.A., 1990
George Mason University School of Law, J.D., 1995 - with distinction, Dean’s Scholar

Affiliations
Admitted to practice: District of Columbia, Virginia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Eastern District of Kentucky, and the District of Columbia.

Publications
"The Growing Role of Litigation-Generated Science," 10:1 Mealey's Daubert Rpt. 1 (Jan. 2006) (reprinted in 14:21 Mealey's Emerging Toxic Torts Feb. 2006). Co-Authors: William L. Anderson and Barry M. Parsons.

"Use of Toxicology in Tort Litigation: A National Survey," Chapters examining the law of the District of Columbia, and North and South Dakota - Litigation Section, Products Liability Committee (May 2005). Author: Barry M. Parsons.

"Responsible Public Policy Supports An End to the Hemorrhaging Effect Of Punitive Damages In Asbestos Cases," 6:1 Tex. R. L. & Pol. 137 (Fall 2001). Co-Authors: Barry M. Parsons and Mark Behrens.

"Daubert’s Backwash: Litigation-Generated Science," 34:4 Mich. J. L. Ref. 619 (Summer 2001). Co-Authors: William L. Anderson, Barry M. Parsons & Dr. Drummond Rennie.

"Daubert's Troublesome Offspring: Litigation-Generated Science," Crowell & Moring Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation Newsletter (December 1999). Co-Authors: William L. Anderson and Barry M. Parsons.

"Judicial Nullification Of State Tort Reform: The Problem And Some Solutions," LDRC Libel Letter 29 (September 1999). Co-Authors: Barry M. Parsons, Victor Schwartz and Mark Behrens.

"Judicial Nullification of Legislative Action Continues," Leader's Product Liability Law & Strategy 4 (April 1998). Co-Authors: Barry M. Parsons and Victor Schwartz.

"An Attorney's Duty to Disclose Evidence of Document Destruction: How Much Evidence Must the Attorney Disclose?," 7 Litigation and Legal Ethics 34 (Spring 1997). Author: Barry M. Parsons.

"State Qui Tam Actions," Crowell & Moring LLP Health Care Ounce of Prevention Seminar (Winter 1996). Co-Authors: Barry M. Parsons and Michael D. Newman.

"Bottoms v. Bottoms: Erasing the Presumption Favoring the Natural Parent – What Makes This Mother Unfit?," 2 Geo. Mason. Indep. L. Rev. 457 (1994). Author: Barry M. Parsons.

Speeches & Presentations
"Use of Chemical Exposure Studies in Litigation," American Conference Institute’s Chemical Products Liability Litigation Conference (October 4, 2006). Speaker: Barry M. Parsons.

"Managing Inclusively – Supporting the Invisible Bar," Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s National Conference (November 3, 2004). Panelist Speaker: Barry M. Parsons.

"Litigation-Generated Science," National Annual Meeting of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (May 5, 2003). Speaker: Barry M. Parsons.