Clay Barnett

H. Clay Barnett, III joined Beasley Allen in 2007. He focuses on product defect class actions, specifically those involving auto defects.

Clay began preparing for his legal career in product defect cases at an early age. As a young teenager, he began working on outdoor power equipment and outboard marine engines, spending hours tinkering, troubleshooting and learning. His hands-on experience laid a strong foundation for his practice specialty. Today, Clay holds a prestigious Martindale Hubbell AV rating, has been included in numerous editions of the Best Lawyers in America® for Mass Tort/Class Actions, and earned a spot on Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list. Most recently, he was named a Finalist for the Daily Report’s Southeastern Legal Awards Attorney of the Year.

For the first decade of his career with the firm, Clay took on pharmaceutical companies in fraud and consumer protection cases. He represented state attorneys general in major pharmaceutical pricing litigation and helped secure multimillion-dollar verdicts, including $215 million against AstraZeneca, $81 million against GlaxoSmithKline, $78 million against Sandoz and $33 million against Novartis in Alabama. He also secured verdicts of $38.2 million against Sandoz and $30.2 million against Watson Pharmaceuticals in Mississippi.

Over the past decade, Clay has focused much of his practice on vehicle defect class actions. His hands-on experience with vehicle, dirt bike and vessel repair and restoration, along with more than a decade of amateur motorsports competition, gives him a unique perspective in these cases. His mechanical knowledge helps him identify defects, understand how vehicle components work and explain complex technical issues clearly. As lead trial counsel, Clay secured a $102.6 million jury verdict against General Motors in a V-8 engine defect class action in California. His automotive work has also helped consumers in cases involving Toyota, Lexus, Subaru, Mazda, Honda and other major manufacturers.

He is a member of the Georgia Association for Justice and the American Bar Association and has a long history of community involvement. Clay has coached high school mock trial teams, including two Alabama teams that competed in the National High School Mock Trial Championship, mentored students through YMCA’s Youth Legislature program, chaired the River Region United Way attorney campaign and served on the Britton YMCA Board of Directors.

Clay is married to Dr. Elise Plauche Barnett, a general and cosmetic dermatologist and founder of Atlanta Skin Wellness Center. They are proud parents of a son and daughter. Outside of work, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, cheering on his children at their sporting events and playing tennis. For more than a decade, Clay has also competed in endurance road racing events throughout the Southeast. He holds an HSR racing license and currently races a 1979 Mazda RX-7 IMSA tribute car and a 1991 BMW E34. His passion for racing gives him firsthand insight into vehicles and their performance, experience that also complements his work representing clients in product defect class actions.

Education

Clay earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1997 and went on to complete his law degree at the University of Alabama in 2001. After graduating, he served as a law clerk for Judge James C. Wood at the Mobile County Circuit Court. Clay then joined the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, where he spent five years prosecuting violent crimes, white-collar crimes, and public corruption. In 2006, he was appointed as a Special Assistant United States Attorney by the U.S. Department of Justice, where his team tried and convicted co-defendants in a major public corruption matter.

Licenses

• Alabama (2001)
• Mississippi (2003)
• Georgia (2022)

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