J. Richard "Rick" Barry is managing partner of Barry, Thaggard & May, LLP. He has been licensed to practice law since 1979 and has been admitted to practice before all courts in the State of Mississippi, including the United States federal districts courts for the Northern and Southern District Courts, as well as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Barry was inducted as a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has earned an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, showing the highest ethical commitment and legal knowledge.
Mr. Barry is an active member of the Mississippi Bar, having served as the President of the Young Lawyers Section from 1986-1987 and as a member of the Board of Bar Commissioners from 1985-1988. In addition, he served as Chair of the Healthcare Section of the Mississippi Bar and served on the Summer School for Lawyers Committee. Mr. Barry was inducted as a Bar Foundation Fellow in 1990. He has held leadership positions in the Lauderdale County Bar Association as President (1993) and as Secretary / Treasurer (1980). Mr. Barry was recently elected as President of the Mississippi Bar Association.
Mr. Barry is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and belongs to the Section on Litigation for the ABA where he served on the Minority Trial Lawyer Committee.
In 2008, the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary recognized Mr. Barry as "well qualified" for federal district judge. This resulted from Mr. Barry's nomination by President George W. Bush for a position on the federal bench which expired without hearing when President Bush left office.
Mr. Barry served on the Mississippi Judicial Appointment Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project Committee. Mr. Barry is currently in his second seven-year term serving on the Mississippi State Board of Mental Health, having been appointed by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (2005) and reappointed by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (2012). Mr. Barry serves as the Board's Chairman.
Mr. Barry's practice areas include civil litigation, insurance defense, healthcare law, employment law, and workers compensation law. Mr. Barry serves as General Counsel and on the Board of Directors for Rush Health Systems, Inc. and as attorney for the Meridian Housing Authority and Greater Meridian Health Clinic, Inc.. Mr. Barry has served for more than twenty (20) years as the attorney for the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Barry is a graduate of the University of Mississippi where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Public Administration in 1976. Mr. Barry earned his Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Mississippi in 1979. Mr. Barry is a native of Quitman, Mississippi.
