Practice Groups    
 
Transportation
Mr. Barber has extensive experience handling serious tractor trailer accident cases. He knows the intricate rule applicable to motor carriers and drivers through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. He also knows the importance of a fast but thorough investigation into serious accidents, and the premium insurers and trucking companies place on early -- and accurate -- assessment of the risk. He has been responsible for over-seeing accident scenes for “fly teams” put together to handle serious accident investigations. As part of his transportation practice, Mr. Barber has also become intimately familiar with the intricacies of trucking insurance coverage under the various policy forms typically used in the transportation business
 
Insurance Coverage
Insurance coverage is one of Mr. Barber’s practice priorities, especially in the motor carrier and construction defect areas. Mr. Barber has filed numerous declaratory judgment actions on coverage issues involving a wide variety of practice areas. He is familiar with the various policy forms applicable to most liability insurance claims. He also knows how important it is to an insurer to have an accurate assessment of coverage before proceeding to adjust the claim.
 
Construction
Mr. Barber brings a tremendous amount of experience and expertise to our Construction Law Practice Group, particularly in the area of construction defects. When buildings go bad, the parties scramble to place blame. That is when having an experienced hand at the wheel becomes important. Mr. Barber has handled construction cases for many years. He has handled everything from Olympic Stadiums to parking decks, and has represented general contractors, subcontractors and building owners. He is familiar with the various issues peculiar to construction cases, especially those involving indemnity agreements and their enforceability in light of the anti-indemnity statutes. Mr. Barber understands the importance of finding and retaining the very best experts for his clients. He has experience not only in “defective construction” claims, but also in “delay” claims, lien claims and design defect claims. He also has a particular expertise in the area of insurance coverage for construction claims.

In conjuction with his Construction Defect practice, Mr. Barber has extensive experience in Electric Utility Litigation. Mr. Barber is the national coordinating counsel for a major insurance company on all of its catastrophic electric line contact cases. He has advised electric cooperatives and their insurers in cases from all over the United States, including cases from Washington, Arizona, Kentucky, Colorado, New Hampshire, Michigan Tennessee, and Georgia, to name a few. He is familiar with the regulations applicable to electric utilities through the National Electrical Safety Code, and also knows intimately the various legal rules governing the standard of care applied in the electric utility industry. Mr. Barber has written extensively in this area, including a nationwide survey paper on the various incarnations of the High Voltage Safety Acts (sometimes called “Overhead Power Line Acts”). He has also been responsible for scene investigations in catastrophic line contact cases.

Biography
Mr. Barber has extensive litigation experience, focused on motor carrier and insurance coverage issues and electric line contact cases. He has authored one book and numerous articles in the area of insurance defense litigation, including a hard-bound treatise on insurance law, Motor Vehicle Insurance Law and Claims in Georgia (Harrison, 1989). Mr. Barber has represented numerous national and regional insurers throughout the southeastern U.S., and is involved nationally in cases involving catastrophic electric line contact injuries. Mr. Barber is a frequent speaker at bar, industry and client seminars, and has been involved in a number of high-profile appeals in the Georgia Court of Appeals, Georgia Supreme Court, and the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, including one of the leading cases on the extent of the attorney-client privilege for insurance companies.