Thad M. Barnes

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).

Lead counsel in successful international arbitration trial involving pro audio music speaker manufacturer and foreign distributor for 40 countries.

Successfully defended a second request hospital merger challenge by Federal Trade Commission.

Co-counsel in multi-million dollar environmental remediation and allocation dispute involving international corporations. Westlake Vinyls, Inc. v. Goodrich Corp., 518 F.Supp 2d 902 (W.D. Ky. 2007) and Westlake Vinyls, Inc. v. Goodrich Corp., 518 F.Supp. 2d 918 (W.D. Ky. 2007).

Developed numerous document retention/ESI policies for large U.S. corporations.

Litigated a trademark infringement action involving two U.S. restaurant corporations.

Successfully defended a complex business case involving a dispute over the sale of power generating equipment. The case involved over 150 witnesses, 2 million paper documents and in excess of three terabytes of electronic data.

Represented a technology company in a complex business case involving breach of contract claims.

Successfully defended several hospitals in medical malpractice cases.

Successfully defended a manufacturer in an anti-trust case. The case involved an assessment of several terabytes of electronic information by a team of Stites lawyers.

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

St. Agnes Church, Member

Pi Kappa Alpha, Board of Directors

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

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

Benchmark Litigation magazine, Litigation Star (2015-25)