SHB Attorneys Selected to Florida Legal Elite

Shook, Hardy & Bacon’s John M. Barkett, Edward A. Moss, James P. Murphy, Jr., Kenneth J. Reilly and Richard C. Smith have been selected by their peers as a member of Florida Trend magazine’s Florida Legal Elite, an honor bestowed upon the top two percent of Florida’s more than 70,000 lawyers. Barkett, Moss, Reilly and Smith work in SHB’s Miami office, while Murphy is in SHB’s Tampa office.

Barkett has most recently concentrated his practice on all phases of environmental law following a number of years doing commercial, antitrust and employment litigation. He is active in governmental and private Superfund, hazardous waste, underground storage tank and other environmental matters, and counsels clients on real estate, loan and merger and acquisition questions involving environmental issues and assessments. Barkett was recently appointed to serve as the Special Master to oversee the implementation and enforcement of the 1992 Consent Decree between the United States and the State of Florida relating to the restoration of the Florida Everglades.

Moss focuses his practice on the handling and trial of products liability matters, as well as complex commercial cases and securities litigation and defense of class actions. Moss was Co-Lead Defense Counsel in the DuPont Plaza fire case in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has represented The Boeing Company in numerous crash disasters, Texaco in a toxic tort case, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company in two major class action trials and Westinghouse in litigation arising from construction of the Miami Metrorail System.

Murphy has represented businesses and professionals in a variety of commercial disputes in state and federal courts involving such issues as enforcement and defense of covenants not to compete and other restrictive covenants, trade secrets, business torts, franchise and dealership contracts and commercial leases and other real estate litigation issues. He has handled a variety of complex insurance coverage matters for insurance companies and manufacturers, including coverage involving environmental contamination and products liability and professional liability claims.

Reilly has served as Lead Counsel for Philip Morris and Lorillard in tobacco litigation in Miami and throughout the state. He was Lead Counsel in several tobacco trials, including Fontana, Quiepo, French and Engle. He has first-chaired more than 50 jury trials. Reilly has been a frequent lecturer on product liability and professional liability matters in various jurisdictions, in addition to giving lectures to state and local bar associations on trial techniques and civil procedure. In each of the last two years, he has been Lead Counsel in trials that the National Law Journal has named as “one of the top ten jury verdicts in the country.”

Smith has extensive experience in all aspects of litigation in commercial and financial class, individual and derivative actions, as well as in insurance corporation and financial entity litigation. He was the editor of the partnership and corporation litigation chapter of Matthew Bender’s Southeast Litigation Guide and has presented lecture and written materials for The Florida Bar Continuing Education programs on director/officer insurance coverage, ancillary remedies in mortgage foreclosures and other topics, as well as participating in private secured lending presentations to regional bank lending officers.