The global law firm Jones Day has announced that Barbara Harding, an experienced litigator with an extensive focus on science in mass tort cases, has joined the Firm as a partner in the Business and Tort Litigation (USA) Practice in Washington. Ms. Harding was formerly a partner in the Washington office of Kirkland & Ellis.
“We are delighted that Barbara is joining Jones Day. Her arrival here in Washington gives our defense teams and clients around the country access to her vast experience dealing with the scientific issues and experts that often play a key role in high-stakes litigation,” said Greg Shumaker, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s Washington Office.
Ms. Harding has a deep background in litigation relating to asbestos liability, tobacco cost recovery, and product liability. She has been particularly focused on developing and implementing national trial strategies involving complex scientific issues, including the preparation and cross examination of expert witnesses in the fields of epidemiology, toxicology, medicine, statistics, economics, and other science-based disciplines.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Ms. Harding represented W. R. Grace in what the Department of Justice called the “largest criminal environmental case in history.” After more than eight weeks of trial, Ms. Harding and her colleagues on the defense team secured a not guilty verdict on all charges for Grace and all individual defendants. She also represented W. R. Grace in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh in 2008, where she conducted examinations of experts at trial leading to the first asbestos bankruptcy settlement allowing a debtor to retain equity. Ms. Harding led the pretrial effort for Grace that included opposition against every major asbestos plaintiff firm in the country and resulted in discovery victories that have assisted defendants in asbestos litigation around the country. She also spearheaded an intense cooperative effort among auto defendants to defend against spurious asbestos lawsuits. Ms. Harding’s work product from more than a decade ago is still used today by counsel around the country in successful trial defense of asbestos cases. Recently, Ms. Harding represented BP in connection with claims emanating from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ms. Harding served as Deputy Director of the White House Security Review in 1995 where she was responsible for investigating the security of the President at the White House and making classified and unclassified recommendations to Congress for the implementation of measures to protect the safety of the President and First Family in the wake of a plane crash on the White House lawn. The Review’s recommendations led to the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue, in front of the White House, just prior to the Oklahoma City bombing. She also served as a prosecutor for the Department of Justice where she headed the first federal civil rights criminal prosecution involving violence against Muslims.
A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude, she earned a Dean’s Award of Merit and was Notes and Comment Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, Ms. Harding received her B.A. from the University of Alabama where she was a Rhodes Scholar Finalist, Phi Beta Kappa, and an NCAA All-American gymnast. Ms. Harding recently became the first woman to receive the Distinguished Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award from the University of Alabama and was featured in the South Eastern Conference’s “Stories of Character” radio and television ads celebrating the 75th anniversary of the SEC.
Jones Day is a global law firm practicing in the major centers of business and finance throughout the world. Ranked among the world’s best and most integrated law firms, and perennially ranked among the best in client service, Jones Day acts as principal outside counsel to, or provides significant legal representation for, approximately half of the Fortune 500, the Fortune Global 500, and the FT Global 500. Jones Day established its Washington Office in 1946. Today, about 240 lawyers practicing in the antitrust, business practice, government regulation, intellectual property, labor & employment, litigation, and tax areas are housed in a historic office building across the street from the U.S. Capitol.
