Barry Chasnoff
Partner
Barry’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation, primarily for insurers and their insureds, and advising and representing law firms with respect to the myriad of issues they encounter.
Barry has more than 40-years of experience as an attorney. His practice includes a variety of legal malpractice, commercial, and bad-faith litigation. He has served as lead counsel in the defense of numerous national class actions filed in state and federal courts across the country. His practice includes the defense of complex cases for and on behalf of law firms and domestic and foreign insurers in high-exposure cases. Barry has tried to juries more than 40 of those cases, all resulting in defense verdicts. Barry also has substantial experience in major reinsurance arbitration matters, representing both domestic and foreign insurers and reinsurers.
Barry also is uniquely qualified to advise law firms. He served for 15 years on Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld’s Management Committee; for 5 years on that firm’s Executive Committee; and was the firm’s General Counsel for a decade. He understands how modern firms function and the intricate and complicated issues they face. As General Counsel, he oversaw all claims against the firm; oversaw conflict issues; managed new business intake and docketing; designed, implemented, and managed firm-wide compliance initiatives as required under foreign and domestic regulatory regimes; oversaw amendments to the partnership agreement; and negotiated and managed the firm’s professional liability insurance. Barry has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2008 for his work in Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation. He was also named the Best Lawyers® 2013 Bet-the-Company Litigation “Lawyer of the Year” in San Antonio.
Representative Experience
- Obtaining a defense-verdict for a law firm in a legal malpractice claim in federal court in Florida after being substituted in as lead trial counsel approximately six weeks before trial.
- Obtaining a defense-verdict for a professional liability insurer in a bad faith claim brought by a dentist arising out of a denial of a claim that he was no longer able to work, after being substituted in as trial counsel one month before trial.
- Representing professional liability underwriters in declaratory judgment actions arising out of legal malpractice claims made against insured law firm’s former partners.
- Successfully defending the patents of Datapoint Corporation, the originator of dispersed data processing.
- Representing property insurers in numerous bad faith cases throughout Texas arising out of the alleged failure of foundations. Barry tried more than 15 of these cases to a jury verdict in deep South Texas, obtaining defense verdicts in each.
- Representing numerous property insurers when a series of mold/property damage claims were successfully being brought in Texas. Barry successfully tried numerous cases to a jury verdict throughout Texas.
- Representing the inventor of the Intraluminal Stent. Mr. Chasnoff defended the patent, and successfully represented the inventor in a four-month trial.
- Trying numerous bad-faith cases defending more than a dozen insurers, all to defense verdicts.
- Representing underwriters of D&O, PI, and excess policies in numerous suits brought in state and federal courts relating to the failure of Stanford Financial Group. In one notable case brought in federal court in Houston, underwriters obtained a finding that indicted directors and officers had engaged in acts of money laundering, triggering the policy’s money laundering exclusion. Numerous other cases remain pending.
- Advising underwriters with respect to legal malpractice claims arising out of tax advice provided to insured law firm’s clients.
- Representing insured law firms in various types of malpractice claims in numerous states.
- Representing underwriters in declaratory judgment actions arising out of legal malpractice claims made against insured law firm’s former partners.
- Representing insurers in class action arising out of pharmaceutical company’s product.
Admissions
- Texas State Bar
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- Federal Districts in Texas
Education
- 1974 – J.D., with honors, University of Texas School of Law
- 1971 – B.A., with honors, Political Science, Trinity University
Awards and Recognition
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2008 – 2024
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Commercial Litigation, 2008 – 2024
- Named the Best Lawyers® 2013 Bet-the-Company Litigation “Lawyer of the Year” in San Antonio
- Order of the Coif
Speaking Engagements
- American Bar Association on Legal Malpractice Issues
- Numerous CLE seminars for the State Bar of Texas
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Board of the Children’s Bereavement Center
- From the Heart Foundation (providing Hurricane Harvey relief)
- Board of the Kimmelman Fund, Temple Beth El