Related Information
Education
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University of Wisconsin
LL.M. 1980
Legal History
Research Assistantship, 1976-77 Thesis--Gambling and the Law, 1980 Wis. L.R. 811
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University of Louisville School of Law
J.D., cum laude, 1976
Student Bar Association, President
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University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
B.A. 1973
Political Science
Morehead Scholar (complete four-year scholarship); President Delta Upsilon (1972); Freshman Soccer
Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
Kentucky
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
Service Areas
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Business Litigation
- Civil Litigation
- Commercial Disputes - Contracts and Business Torts
- Complex / Large Litigation
- Insurance Coverage, Bad Faith and Regulatory Litigation
- Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals & Medical Device Liability Defense
- Product Liability
- Professional Liability (Non-Medical Professionals)
- Trial Practice
- Aviation
- Health Care
- Health Care Litigation and Investigations
- Health Insurance and Managed Care
- Torts & Insurance Practice
Industry Experience
- Industrial / Manufacturing Facilities
- Insurance Carriers / Brokers / Agents
- Health Care
- Consumer Products / Food / Beverage
- Airports / Aviation
- Educational Institutions
- Telecommunications
- Gaming
Memberships
- American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
- Annual Judicial Conference of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Kentucky Bar Association
- Louisville Bar Association
- American Health Lawyers Association
Community Involvement
Doug Farnsley is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the International Society of Barristers, and serves on the Kentucky Bar Association Board of Governors. Doug is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® (2007-2012) for Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants and Product LIability Litigation - Defendants for 2012, and was named the Best Lawyers' 2011 Louisville Product Liability Litigation Lawyer of the Year and 2010 Louisville Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year. He is also listed in Kentucky Super Lawyers magazine (2007-11), where he is listed among the Top 50 Lawyers in the state (2009-11).
Doug focuses on civil trial work, including the defense of professional and hospital liability claims. He has over 30 years of trial experience, including 50 plus matters successfully tried to verdict. Doug has argued cases before state and federal appeals courts. Doug currently serves on the firm's General Counsel Committee and previously served on its Management Committee.
Recent Assignments
- Successfully represented telecommunications company in a class action sales tax claim
- Successfully tried major cases on behalf of BellSouth Telecommunications, State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company, American Physicians Assurance, HEALTHSOUTH, OUM & Associates, The Trover Clinic and the YMCA of Greater Louisville
- Trials in the defense of claims of employment discrimination, breach of warranty, wrongful death, medical malpractice and negligence
- Successful representation of The Trover Clinic in the enforcement of a covenant not to compete
Before Stites & Harbison
Doug obtained an LL.M. in Legal History from the University of Wisconsin. After attending UW, Doug clerked for Judge Thomas Ballantine, United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
More Than Stites & Harbison
Doug is a passionate supporter of two historic sites associated with his family and located in southwestern Jefferson County, Ky. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Besides Stites & Harbison
Doug is a student of politics and is an ardent Democrat. His father served as mayor of Louisville and in the U.S. House of Representatives.