Dugan Barr’s Bio
I. Personal Data
Married with five children
Birthplace: April 3, 1942, Yreka, California
II. Education
Reed College (B.A., 1964)
University of Chicago (J.D. 1967)
III. Legal Practice
Mr. Barr started practice in Redding, CA in 1967 as an insurance defense lawyer working for William W. Coshow. In 1973, Mr. Barr formed his own firm doing plaintiff and defense work, primarily in the areas of personal injury and wrongful death. Mr. Barr has tried in excess of two hundred civil jury cases to verdict. These cases cover a broad spectrum of areas of the law, including personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, airplane crashes, boating accidents, dangerous condition of public property, commercial litigation both in terms of contract interpretation and extra-contractual damages, legal malpractice, medical malpractice, realtor malpractice, accountant malpractice, insurance bad faith, lender liability, and securities fraud. His practice has for a number of years been devoted nearly entirely to representation of plaintiffs in actions against those who injured them.
IV. Memberships & Honors
- Shasta-Trinity County Bar Association - President 1971
- State Bar of California
- Association of Defense Counsel (Formerly)
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
- Diplomate, American Board of Trial Advocates (President Sacramento Valley Chapter, 1991)
- Chairman, Cal-ABOTA, 1992
- Chairman, Region 10 of ABOTA, 1992
- Member, ABOTA National Board of Directors, 1991-1995 & 1997-Present
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Board Certified in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy
- One of 12 best California Trial Lawyers, California Lawyer, May 2002
- Past President, Shasta Jazz Festival
- Eagle Scout
- Named as the 2005 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
- Elected as a Northern California Super Lawyer in 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008 as the result ballots cast by other lawyers in an election conducted by San Francisco Magazine.
- Included in the list of The Best Lawyers in America 2007 & 2008 as a result of another peer review process.
V. Bar Activities
Mr. Barr was appointed by the California State Bar to the Civil Litigation Consulting Group. This group was charged with the responsibility of proposing standards for certifying specialists in civil litigation. After a number of proposals were defeated at the Board of Governors’ level for political reasons, the group was disbanded.
Mr. Barr was a member of the joint Bar-Judicial Council Discovery Commission. This commission wrote the Civil Discovery Act of 1986.
VI. Publications
“Worker’s Compensation and Third Party Cases: A Trap for the Unwary” (with Maynard K. Tescher) California State Bar Section Education Institute, 1992.
“Plaintiff’s Opening Statement” California Ultimate Trial Notebook, American Board of Trial Advocates, 1994.
VII. Teaching experience
Mr. Barr has taught on a variety of subjects relating to the handling of plaintiffs’ cases at the request of a number of Bar organizations. In addition to conducting seminars for local Bar organizations, Mr. Barr has been an invited speaker at Continuing Legal Education Seminars for the following groups:
- California State Bar Section Education Institute, San Diego, CA, 1992.
- Los Angeles Chapter, American Board of Trial Advocates, Los Angles, CA, 1994.
- Orange County Chapter, American Board of Trial Advocates, Anaheim, CA, 1995
- Sacramento Valley Chapter, American Board of Trial Advocates, Sacramento, CA, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005 & 2007.
- American College of Trial Lawyers, San Francisco, 2002
- San Francisco Chapter, American Board of Trial Advocates, 2003.
- Washington Chapter, American Board of Trial Advocates, 2003.
- American College of Trial Lawyers, San Francisco, 2004
- Orange County Chapter, America Board of Trial Advocates, 2005
- Alaska Chapter, American Board of Trial Advocates, 2005
- Judge, National Moot Court competition, San Francisco, 2008.