Robert Barrer

Biography

Robert is Barclay Damon’s chief ethics and risk management partner and is responsible for all ethics, conflicts, loss-prevention, and CLE activities. In this senior leadership position, he counsels firm attorneys and provides analysis and advice on ethical questions involving conflicts of interest, privileges, and legal issues implicating the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Robert also supervises the firm’s CLE programs, lectures on a wide variety of ethics and practice-management topics, and is responsible for designing and implementing programs and policies to improve the provision of high-quality legal services for firm clients.

Robert has over 37 years of trial and appellate experience in the state and federal courts and serves as a mediator for court-directed and private mediation clients. Over the course of his career, Robert represented large and small corporations, governmental and agency clients as well as individuals. At present, Robert regularly represents lawyers and law firms in disciplinary and professional misconduct matters before the Grievance Committees of the Third and Fourth Judicial Departments of the New York State Supreme Court.

Robert is also chair of the firm's Intake/Conflicts, Opinion, and Billing Committees. He also serves as a member of the firm's Technology Committee.

Bar Associations

American Bar Association
New York State Bar Association, Standards of Attorney Conduct Committee Member, Chair of Misconduct Subcommittee
Onondaga County Bar Association, Professional Ethics Committee Member, Certified Mediator

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

American Board of Trial Advocates, Elected Member
Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
NYS Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, Fifth Judicial District: Former Chair and Grievance Committee Member
NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct, Referee

Representative Experience

Regularly represents lawyers and law firms as respondents in professional-discipline matters before attorney grievance committees.
Obtained summary judgment a municipality that provided emergency medical services in response to a 911 call concerning the plaintiff, who suffered a massive heart attack. While at the scene, the defibrillator and the pads allegedly malfunctioned. A lawsuit was brought against the client and the manufacturer and distributors of the defibrillator and pads. In the absence of a special relationship, and none was established, there was no municipal liability. The plaintiff appealed, and the dismissal of the action was affirmed.
Obtained summary judgment for a third-party benefits provider for self-funded health- and risk-management plans in a pair of federal civil-rights actions commenced by retired disabled police officers who were challenging the manner in which their medical benefits were paid under Section 207-c of the NY General Municipal Law. The decision granting summary judgment was affirmed by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. One of the plaintiffs then commenced a near-identical action in NYS Supreme Court against the client. Obtained dismissal of most of the claims in an initial motion, and then obtained summary judgment dismissing the remaining claims. The decision granting summary judgment was then affirmed by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department.
Represented a manufacturer of motorcycles and off-road vehicles in a challenge to the manufacturer’s decision to terminate the franchisee based upon its failure to meet the standards contained in the franchise agreement. Following a six-week jury trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the client, thereby validating the decision to terminate the franchise.
Defended a manufacturer of precision medical devices in an action brought by a purchaser of a $2.25 million nuclear-magnetic-resonance system. After the client performed and indicated its readiness to deliver the system, the purchaser attempted to cancel the agreement and sought a refund of its deposit. Obtained a decision from the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, affirmed by the Second Circuit, that the purchaser breached the agreement and there was no right to a refund of the deposit.
Successfully defended two municipal agencies and one of its officers in a federal civil-rights action arising out of the declaration that multi-story dwelling in a college town was not up to the local housing code and therefore unsuitable for use as a college fraternity. Following a six-week trial, the jury in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York returned a verdict in favor of the clients despite the fact the former owners of the home were found liable for fraud. The Second Circuit affirmed the verdict in all respects.
Represented the individual seller of a technology company who claimed he was wrongfully denied compensation for the sale of products following the purchase of his business by a competitor. Arbitration and litigation followed parallel tracks and, after completing the arbitration hearing, the arbitrator awarded the client $1.4 million (the full amount sought).
Obtained summary judgment for clients that manufactured warming blankets for use during surgery and had been sued when a young patient developed compartment syndrome on his legs following kidney surgery. Established that the warming blanket functioned properly and did not cause or contribute to the compartment syndrome.
Successfully defended a client was accused of legal malpractice arising out of his representation of an accused in a criminal case. Under NY law, a former client of an attorney who was convicted in a criminal case cannot claim legal malpractice against the attorney without first establishing actual innocence. The incarcerated former client made no claim or showing of innocence, and therefore, summary judgment was obtained for our client.
Successfully defended a manufacturer of folding ladders in a claim by an insurance-company claims adjuster that the ladder failed, causing him to fall and sustain personal injuries. Relying upon expert testimony from a wood materials and ladder expert, convinced the jury that the ladder was not defective and the sole cause of the fall and injury was the negligence of the plaintiff. The jury returned a verdict of ‘no cause for action’ following a four-day trial.
Obtained summary judgment for the owner and operator of a daycare center in an action commenced by the parents of a two-year-old who sustained a serious injury when a piece of furniture upon which the child was climbing tipped over. The court granted the motion for summary judgment and dismissed both the action against daycare center as well as all cross-claims asserted by the manufacturer. The argument of the manufacturer that the daycare center was guilty of negligent supervision was summarily rejected.
Defended a physician accused of professional misconduct and fraud in an 18-day administrative proceeding before a panel of the State Board of Professional Medical Conduct. The board accused the physician of multiple instances of misconduct involving 10 different patients, arising out of alleged deviations from the standard of care, inadequate recordkeeping, and fraud for billing for procedures not undertaken.
Obtained summary judgment for medical-device manufacturers by establishing that the product at issue had been a part of a line of business sold to another company. Because the agreement memorializing the sale excluded retained liabilities, the court held that there was no liability to the plaintiff, who claimed to have suffered severe damages from an overdose of radiation during cancer treatment.

Prior Experience

Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Partner

Judicial Clerkships

US District Court for the Northern District of New York, Judge Howard Munson

Selected Honors

The Best Lawyers in America®: Commercial Litigation, 2021–2022
Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Professional Liability: Defense, 2018–2020
Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York: Business Litigation, 2007–2017
Burton Awards, Law360 Distinguished Writing Award for “Unintended Consequences: Avoiding and Addressing the Inadvertent Disclosure of Documents,” 2006, and “Careless Keystrokes and Bad Decisions—New York Law on Inadvertent Disclosure,” 2017
Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association, Pro Bono Service Award, 2010

Selected Speaking Engagements

New York State Bar Association, "Ethics 2020: Legal Ethics in the Real World" CLE
17th Annual Hinshaw & Culbertson Legal Malpractice/Risk Management National Conference, "Navigating Troubled Waters: Dealing With the Impaired Lawyer (2018)"
New York State Bar Association, "Introductory Lessons on Ethics and Civility (2018)" CLE
New York State Bar Association, “Legal Malpractice 2017” CLE
American Law Institute National, “The Efficient and Ethical Use of Email in Law Practice” Webinar

Selected Publications & Media

New York Legal Ethics Reporter, “Careless Keystrokes & Bad Decisions: New York Law on Inadvertent Disclosure”
New York Legal Ethics Reporter, “Ethical Implications and Best Practices for the Use of Email”
New York State Bar Association Journal, “Removal of Personal Injury Actions to New York Federal District Courts”
New York State Bar Association Journal, “Unintended Consequences: Avoiding and Addressing the Inadvertent Disclosure of Documents”
Warren’s Negligence in the New York Courts, “Parties Negligent” Ch. 3 Editor

Overview Experience Knowledge

Syracuse University College of Law, JD, Magna Cum Laude
Skidmore College, BA, With Honors

New York
Texas
US District Court for the Northern District of New York
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the Western District of New York
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US Supreme Court

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RobertBarrer

Chief Ethics and Risk Management Partner

"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do." —Potter Stewart

Biography

Bar Associations

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

Representative Experience

Prior Experience

Judicial Clerkships

Selected Honors

Selected Speaking Engagements

Selected Publications & Media

Education

Practices & Industries

Admitted to Practice

Featured Media

Alerts

2022 Promises More Changes to Clean Water Act Regulations

Alerts

SCOTUS Strikes Down OSHA Vaccinate-or-Test Rule, but Allows CMS Mandate to Proceed

Alerts

New York State Appellate Court Grants Insurer's Motion to Rescind Policy Based on Misrepresentation in Application

Alerts

Late Fees After Acceleration or Maturity

Alerts

New York State Quietly Diverts $1.6 Billion in Federal Pandemic Funds to a Small Group of Large Home Care Providers

Alerts

Standards for Emerging Contaminants Among Proposed Changes to NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's Site Cleanup Programs