Faculty Profile: James Barry

Jim Barry graduated with honors from the College of William and Mary in 1979 and from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1982. Over the course of his career, he had a litigation practice with two firms, Penn Stuart in Bristol, Virginia, and Jones Walker in Louisiana. He had an in-house litigation practice with The United Company, Mobil Oil and Union Camp. In 1999, Jim moved to Memphis with International Paper and retired from there in 2018 as chief counsel for corporate litigation. He was honored in 2016 with the Janice M. Holder Award from the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services for his contributions in advancing the quality of justice statewide by ensuring the legal system is open and available to all. He has served as Board Chair for Memphis Area Legal Services and the Community Legal Center. Jim has served for many years on the TBA’s Access to Justice Committee which he chaired for several years. He is a co-founder of TBA’s Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative and has served on the TBA Board of Governors. Jim is currently serving as the President of the Tennessee Bar Association.