Member

Thad M. Barnes

Thad Barnes is an experienced trial attorney with approximately 40 bench and jury trials to his credit. Mr. Barnes’ practice is focused on intellectual property litigation, complex commercial litigation, and health care litigation. Mr. Barnes has extensive experience in patent litigation, trade secret cases, product liability matters and works extensively with flavor and fragrance manufacturers. He is listed in Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star in the Intellectual Property practice area. Mr. Barnes also handles complex electronic discovery issues and advises clients on privacy, information security issues, and social media issues and works with clients to implement defensible approaches to the presentation, collection and production of electronically stored information (ESI) for litigation, government requests and investigations. Mr. Barnes is Co-Chair of the firm’s Business Litigation Service Group.

Recent Assignments

Lead counsel for a corporate client in a multi-week jury trial against plaintiffs seeking over $150 million in compensatory and punitive damages for alleged wrongful death and chemical exposure.

Successfully represented flavor manufacturer in New Jersey federal court in a products liability litigation against a supplier of adulterated products.

Represented a UK protective case manufacturer against patent infringement claims filed by OtterBox at the United States International Trade Commission, In the Matter of Certain Protective Cases for Electronic Devices and Components Thereof, Investigation No. 337-TA-955 filed by OtterBox. Obtained complete dismissal of the investigation. See “Victory for Tech21 as OtterBox ends patent dispute with protective case rival,” MOBILE NEWS (September 15, 2015).

After a five week jury trial in New Jersey federal court, obtained a unanimous defense verdict in favor of fragrance company Mane USA, Inc. dismissing claims that the company conspired with a perfumer to misappropriate over 600 trade secret fragrance formulas from a competitor–Swiss fragrance giant Givaudan Fragrances Corp. Givaudan had claimed $80 million in damages. Before trial, Mane obtained partial summary judgment from the Court dismissing the majority of the claims in a decision that received national attention as an important case regarding potential trade secret liability for subsequent employers. See Givaudan Fragrances Corp. v. Krivda, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153437 (D.N.J. Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-04409, Oct. 25, 2013), reported in Failure to Provide Specific Information On Alleged Misappropriations Fatal to Claims, Bloomberg, BNA Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal (October 29, 2013).

Lead counsel in obtaining $40 million settlement for global flavor manufacturer V. Mane Fils (www.mane.com) against a competitor for claims of patent infringement, false advertising, and tortious interference. See: NEW YORK TIMES, IFF and Mane Announce Settlement of Mane’s Lawsuit Concerning Monomenthyl Succinate (December 29, 2011) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 249 F.R.D. 152 (D.N.J. 2008), reported in NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, Use of Attorneys’ Letters To Woo Business Held To Waive Privilege (March 5, 2008) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38637 (D.N.J. Apr. 8, 2011) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49578 (D.N.J. June 23, 2008) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63619 (D.N.J. Aug. 19, 2008) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82540 (D.N.J. Oct. 15, 2008) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56462 (D.N.J. July 1, 2009) V. Mane Fils S.A. v. Int’l Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45645 (D.N.J. May 6, 2010).

Bar Admissions

Kentucky

Tennessee

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

Firm Leadership

Business Litigation Service Group, Co-Chair (2024-present)

Pretrial Practice & eDiscovery Group, Chair

Recruiting Committee, Former Member

Louisville Office Recruiting Committee, Former Ex Officio Member

Lateral Recruiting Committee, Former Chair

Management Committee, Former Member

Memberships

American Bar Association

Kentucky Bar Association

Louisville Bar Association

Memphis Bar Association

Defense Research Institute

Leo Bearman Jr. American Inns of Court Society

Federal Bar Association

Community Involvement

St. Agnes Church, Member

Pi Kappa Alpha, Board of Directors

Education

J.D.,

1993

University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law

B.A.,

1990

University of Kentucky

More Than Stites & Harbison

Previously, Mr. Barnes was Vice President and General Counsel of Triangle Seafood Inc. where he handled the company’s litigation, federal compliance work, and general corporate affairs. Thad and his wife, Laura, stay busy attending the sporting events for their five children.

Accolades

The Best Lawyers in America®, Commercial Litigation (2013-25)

Kentucky Super Lawyers® (2013-19, 2021-25)

Benchmark Litigation magazine, Litigation Star (2015-25)