Practice Areas: Personal Injury, Class Action & Mass Torts, Medical Malpractice; view more
Licensed in Tennessee since: 1992
Education: Vanderbilt University Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2023 Details
A personal injury, class action/mass torts, and medical malpractice attorney, Kathryn E. Barnett is a senior trial lawyer for Morgan & Morgan. She represents clients in Nashville, Tennessee, in cases related to product liability and consumer protection. Named by The Best Lawyers in America as one of Nashville’s Best Lawyers for eight consecutive years, the organization has also named her Nashville Product Liability Litigation Plaintiff’s Lawyer of the Year, and she was one of the 150 Best Lawyers in Tennessee named by Business Tennessee. The Nashville Business Journal included her in the Best of the Bar for several years, and she has been a Nashville Lawyer in Charge with the Nashville Post for more than a decade.
Ms. Barnett is admitted to practice in the state of Tennessee. She is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Western, Middle and Eastern districts of Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
At Davidson College, Ms. Barnett graduated in 1989 with honors and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. She then attended Vanderbilt University Law School, and in 1992 she graduated with her Juris Doctor.
A member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Ms. Barnett is also involved with the American Association for Justice. Within the Nashville Bar Association, she has served as Board Member and First Vice President, and she is a member of the Nashville Bar Foundation, the Tennessee Lawyer’s Association for Women, the Tennessee Association for Justice, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Tennessee Justice Center, the Tennessee Judicial Conference and the Tennessee Metropolitan Board of Equalization.
Practice areas
Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff, Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: PlaintiffFocus areas
Class Actions, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury - Plaintiff
- 40% Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff
- 30% Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff
- 30% Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
First Admitted: 1992, Tennessee
Professional Webpage: https://www.forthepeople.com/attorneys/kathryn-e-barnett/
- "Auto Defect Cases," Tennessee Trial Lawyers (February 2005)
- "Knocking Out Opposing Experts," Tennessee Trial Lawyers (October & November 2004); Nashville Bar Association (July 2004)
- "Trial Practice Tips: Powerful Trial Strategies for the Absolute Litigator," Nashville Bar Association (April 2004)
- "Limiting the Harmful Testimony of Experts on the Law," Trial (January 2001) "Limiting the Harmful Testimony of Experts on the Law," Trial (January 2001)
- "Letting Focus Groups Work for You," Trial (April 1999)
- "Damages," Tennessee Trial Lawyers (October & November 2003)
- "Trying the Wrongful Death Case in Tennessee," National Business Institute (August 2003)
- "Advanced Personal Injury," National Business Institute (July 2003)
- "Mass Torts," Tennessee Bar Association (July 2002)
- "Superior Depositions Strategies in Civil Trial Practice," National Business Institute (December 1999, January 2002)
- "Lawsuits Against the Nursing Home Industry," Tennessee Trial Lawyers (February 2000)
- "How to Prepare for Mediation and other Practice Tips," Nashville Bar Association (October 2000)
- "Tennessee Expert Witness," Lorman Education Services (July 2000)
- "Using Focus Groups to Get the Settlement or Verdict Your Client Deserves," Tennessee Trial Lawyers (February 1999)
- "Introducing Evidence," Tennessee Bar Association (November 2012)
- "Legal Writing," Vanderbilt Law School (October 2012)
- "How Cultural Values Impact Contested Issues – Research and Findings," panelist, Nashville Bar Association (August 2011)
- "Products Liability Cases and the Tenn. Civil Justice Act of 2011," Tennessee Bar Association (June 2011)
- "Trial Practice – Experts," Tennessee Bar Association (March 2011)
- "The Basics of Class Action and MDL Litigation," Tennessee Bar Association (July 2009)
- "Advanced Federal Court Practice," Nashville Bar Association (March 2009)
- Guest Speaker, "Medicine, Law and Society," Vanderbilt University (March 2009)
- "Annual Review: Medical Malpractice Update," Tennessee Association for Justice (October-December 2008)
- "Civil Procedure and Evidence Update," Tennessee Trial Lawyers (October & November 2006)
- "Pre-Trial Skills: Thinking on Your Feet," National Business Institute (November 2006)
- "Trial Practice Institute," Nashville Bar Association (September 2005)
- "State Law Class Actions," American Bar Association, Business Law Section (April 2005)
- "Power Windows Can Kill," Trial (April 2005)
- President, Nashville Lawyer's Association for Women, 2004-2005
- Tennessee Metropolitan Board of Equalization, Davidson County, 2000-2004
- President-elect, Nashville Lawyer's Association for Women, 2004
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
- Vice President, Tennessee Association for Justice, Middle Section, 2011
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
- Tennessee Association for Justice, Secretary, 2007-2009
- Harry Phillips American Inn of Courts, Executive Committee, 2004-2013
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Board Member, Nashville Bar Association, 2005-2008
- Chair, Tennessee Judicial Conference, Bench/Bar Committee, 2009-2010
- Treasurer, Nashville Lawyer's Association for Women, 2000-2002
- American Association for Justice
- Board Member, Nashville Lawyer's Association for Women, Nominating Committee, 1998-2005
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
- Tennessee Association for Justice, Executive Committee, 2008-2009
- American Association of Trial Lawyers
- Board of Governors, Tennessee Association for Justice, 2002-2009
- First Vice President, Nashville Bar Association, 2007
- Secretary-Treasurer, Tennessee Justice Center, Inc., 2003-2004
- Director, Nashville Lawyer's Association for Women, 2002-2003
- Nashville Lawyer's Association for Women, Nominating Committee, 2007
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
- Tennessee Association for Justice, Treasurer, 2010
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
- Chair, Tennessee Association for Justice, Continuing Education Committee, 2004-2006
- Member, Harry Phillips American Inn of Courts, 1997-1999, 2004-2013
- Board of Directors, Tennessee Justice Center, Inc., 2002-2005
- Nashville Bar Foundation
- Davidson College, B.A. in Philosophy, with honors, 1989
- Best Lawyers in America, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs' and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs', 2015
- Super Lawyers, "Top 50 Women Mid-South Super Lawyer," 2006-2014
- Nashville Post, "Nashville Lawyers in Charge," 2010-Present
- Best Lawyers in America, "Nashville's Best Lawyers," 2010-2016
- Super Lawyers, "Top 100 Tennessee Super Lawyer," 2010-2015
- Nashville Business Journal, "Best of the Bar," 2003, 2005-2010
- Best Lawyers in America, Nashville Product Liability Litigation Plaintiffs' "Lawyer of the Year," 2015
- Lawdragon, "Lawdragon Finalist," 2009-2011
- Business Tennessee, "150 Best Lawyers in Tennessee," 2006-2009
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2023
Top Lists
Top 50: Nashville Super Lawyers: 2012 - 2013, 2015 - 2016, 2022 - 2023- Top 100: 2023 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2022 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2016 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2015 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2013 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2012 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2011 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2010 Tennessee Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2023 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2022 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2021 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2016 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2015 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2014 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2013 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2012 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2011 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers
