John J. Barton

John J. Barton is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished trial lawyers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He has prevailed in over 40 civil jury trials, a 97 percent success rate, including cases in such diverse fields as medical malpractice, product liability, anti-trust, police abuse and catastrophic personal injury.

In recognition of his skills and accomplishments as a trial lawyer, Mr. Barton was inducted in 1997 into the elite American Board of Trial Advocates (www.abota.org). He currently serves as president of ABOTA’s Rhode Island Chapter. Reflecting the high regard held for him by his colleagues in the trial bar, Mr. Barton since 1991 has maintained an AV-Preeminent rating in the Martindale-Hubbell National Law Directory, the highest rating available for legal ability and ethical standards.

Mr. Barton is also an experienced appellate lawyer, having successfully pursued appeals in the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

While his law practice tends to be concentrated in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Mr. Barton has also been actively involved in litigation in Washington, D.C., New York, Ohio and other jurisdictions.

He frequently lectures on trial techniques, medical malpractice, mediation, and numerous other legal topics to various national, regional and local groups of attorneys, health care providers, insurers, and business leaders.

Mr. Barton is a founding member of the firm, and is senior partner in the firm’s Providence office.

Representative Accomplishments

For almost three decades, Mr. Barton has been a stalwart defender of physicians involved in medical malpractice actions. He has represented doctors from virtually every medical specialty, and has done so in mostly high-exposure cases involving catastrophic injury or death.

Mr. Barton has also had a successful string of favorable jury verdicts in other areas of litigation. For example, he defeated an anti-trust claim against a group of health care providers who were sued for allegedly engaging in a boycott when they sought to keep an unqualified doctor from securing hospital privileges. He successfully defended a pharmaceutical company whose anti-depressant medication allegedly caused the attempted suicide of a young woman with a long history of psychiatric disorders.

Mr. Barton also successfully defended a real estate attorney who was sued for malicious prosecution because she triggered the arrest of a real estate speculator who had taken title to a condominium complex through fraud and deceit. His skills as a trial advocate helped a restaurant/lodge defeat a dram shop liability claim filed by the family of one of the restaurant’s employees, who had been drinking on the job and killed when he drove off the road on his way home from work.

Mr. Barton also has a proven track record of representing individuals and families in serious personal injury and wrongful death cases. He has recovered millions of dollars in damages and settlements on behalf of those harmed by the negligent or reckless conduct of automotive manufacturers, trucking companies, over-zealous police agencies, and impaired motorists.

Mr. Barton has also appeared before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the New York Supreme Court for the County of New York. He has participated in administrative hearings before a variety of federal and state agencies, including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Rhode Island Human Rights Commission, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Medicine.

Professional and Civic Affiliations

Mr. Barton is member of a number of professional groups, including the American Bar Association (Litigation Section); the Massachusetts Bar Association; Rhode Island Bar Association; the Defense Research Institute; American Inns of Court; and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Barton is active in his community. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Grafton Little Leage, and is a longtime Little League baseball coach. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Grafton Land Trust..