W. Eugene Barton

Gene Barton, a shareholder with the firm, has been with Karr Tuttle Campbell since September 1996. Mr. Barton practices in the firm’s Litigation Department, with emphasis in commercial and securities litigation, toxic torts, appellate law, and insurance defense and coverage work. Mr. Barton has been counsel of record for the prevailing party in 11 cases before the Washington Court of Appeals and Washington Supreme Court, including seven published decisions: Humleker v. Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc., 159 Wn. App. 667 (2011);  Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London v. Valiant Insurance Co., 155 Wn. App. 469 (2010); Herring v. Texaco, Inc., 161 Wn.2d 189 (2007); Hines v. Todd Shipyards Corp., 127 Wn. App. 356 (2005); Gorman v. Lockheed Shipbuilding Co., 121 Wn. App. 530 (2004), 155 Wn.2d 198 (2005); Auto Sox USA Inc. v. Zurich North America, 121 Wn. App. 422 (2004); and Breda v. B.P.O. Elks Lake City, 120 Wn. App. 351 (2004). Mr. Barton also was among prevailing counsel of record in Cell Therapeutics, Inc. v. Lash Group Inc., 586 F.3d 1204 (9^th Cir. 2009).

Mr. Barton is a 1996 graduate of the University of Washington School of Law where he earned distinction as the 1996 Phi Alpha Delta Honor Graduate as the top student in the 1996 graduating class. Mr. Barton also was named to the Order of the Coif scholastic honor society, served as a managing editor of the Washington Law Review for 1995-96, and was the recipient of the Judge James J. Lawless Memorial Award and the Delta Theta Phi Award for academic achievement. Mr. Barton interned with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in its University of Washington Division in 1994 and first began working with Karr Tuttle Campbell as a summer associate in 1995. Mr. Barton is the author of “E-mail Harassment and the Inefficacy of Existing Law,” which was published in the April 1995 edition of the Washington Law Review. Mr. Barton was awarded the designation “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Prior to entering the legal profession, Mr. Barton spent 15 years as a newspaper reporter and editor in Oregon and New Mexico. Drawing on that experience, Mr. Barton serves as the editor of the King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin.

• Commercial litigation
• Toxic torts, appeals
• Insurance coverage and defense
• Homeowners’ associations

• “E-mail Harassment and the Inefficacy of Existing Law,” Washington Law Review, April 1995
• “Investigating Claims of Employee Misconduct,” Employment Law Seminar for Human Resource Professionals, September, 1999
• “Asbestos Exposure and the Intentional Injury Exception to Employer Immunity Under the Washington Industrial Insurance Act,” Northwest Asbestos Defense Practice, Washington Law Institute, July 2003
• “Asbestos Exposure And Intentional Injury Exceptions to Employer Immunity Under Workers’ Compensation Acts,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Asbestos, December 7, 2005.

• J.D., University of Washington School of Law, 1996
  • Phi Alpha Delta Honor Graduate, 1996
  • Order of the Coif, 1996
  • Delta Theta Phi Award, 1995
  • Judge James J. Lawless Memorial Award, 1994
  • Thorgrimson, Preston, Starin, Holman, Shidler, McBroom Memorial Scholarship, 1994
  • Washington Law Review: Editorial staff, 1994-95, Managing Editor, 1995-96
• Bachelor’s of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1978.

• Washington State Bar, 1996
• Oregon State Bar, 1999
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, 1997
• U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, 2000
• Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1997

• American Bar Association
• Washington State Bar Association
• King County Bar Association
• Washington Defense Trial Lawyers