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robert_barnes

Mr. Barnes has litigated multi-million dollar commercial litigation cases in state and federal courts throughout the country. He has extensive experience in many aspects of commercial litigation, including: contract disputes; shareholder/owner disputes; covenant-not-to-compete and trade secrets disputes; insurance coverage disputes; construction litigation; accountant liability and securities fraud matters.

Most recently, Mr. Barnes served as first chair in the case of Salvatore v. Mobile Diagnostech, Inc., et al., in which the firm obtained a $59 million civil RICO verdict and judgment following a two-week jury trial in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The case was brought by limited partners in an MRI business against the partnership's general partners and managers, and included derivitive claims for civil RICO violations, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty arising out of unauthorized, multi-million dollar loans taken from the partnership and the general partners' acquisition of partnership units using partnership funds. The verdict and resulting judgment is one of the very few successfully prosecuted civil RICO verdicts in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Barnes has represented various parties in securities fraud and accountant liability matters, including a corporation in the Phar-Mor Securities Litigation, and directors and officers in the Chambers Development Company Securities Litigation and the Italian Oven Securities Litigation.

Mr. Barnes also has extensive experience in federal white-collar criminal matters, both as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and as private defense counsel. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Barnes was responsible for numerous federal grand jury investigations and criminal trials including public corruption, tax evasion and complex white-collar criminal matters.

As private defense counsel, Mr. Barnes has represented corporations that have been victimized by illegal activities, and private individuals charged with white-collar offenses.

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Practice Concentration

  • Commercial Litigation
  • Shareholder/Owner Litigation (corporations, partnerships, LLCs, etc.)
  • Covenants-Not-To-Compete
  • Trade Secrets
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Construction Litigation
  • Securities Litigation
  • White Collar Criminal Defense

Education

  • Indiana University, J.D., 1985
  • University of Notre Dame, B.B.A. (Accounting) 1979

Honors

  • Order of the Coif (top 10% of law school class)
  • Magna Cum Laude
  • American Jurisprudence Award, Criminal Procedure

Admitted to Practice

  • Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania.
  • Indiana and the U.S. District Courts, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana.
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth and Seventh Circuits.

Other Professional Licenses

  • Certified Public Accountant, Indiana, 1982.