Jury out on Roy Barnes' role as attorney

Barnes, a Marietta Democrat running to reclaim the state's top job in 2010, likes to call himself a "poor country lawyer."

But an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of cases shows he's been involved in one high-profile legal fight after another, keeping his name in the headlines, TV newscasts and the blogosphere.

The former governor's legal record shows he's been willing to take politically unpopular stands. And while he's built a reputation as a consumer lawyer, he's also defended deep-pocket clients.

Some of the causes he's taken up are sure to become the subjects of political attacks as the campaign heats up.

Barnes expects no less from his opponents, who have been raising questions about his legal work for decades. After all, he won office in 1998 with Republicans running TV ads calling him "soft on crime, too liberal for Georgia."

"I've had it in every race I've ever run," Barnes said. "In every one of them, they [opponents] have said, 'He represented this murderer, he represented this fellow who was accused of that.'

"People are not fooled by such extraneous issues."

Republicans say voters will care.

Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association and a former campaign aide to Gov. Sonny Perdue, made it clear the GOP will be bringing up Barnes' legal work during the 2010 campaign.

"Only Roy Barnes would believe that ... he could rehab his image by getting corrupt CEOs, corrupt politicians and corrupt judges off the hook for $900 an hour," Ayers said.

Barnes may hear less about his legal work from his Democratic competitors, although a few cases could be brought into the primary debate as well.

"Everybody's got to live with their record," said Wendy Davis, campaign manager for Democratic hopeful David Poythress.

Tops on the list for Republican opponents to attack will be Barnes' unsuccessful legal challenge to the state's voter ID law, which requires voters to show certain types of photo ID to vote. Polls show it is favored by most Georgians, and Republicans have made it a signature issue.

Other cases that may attract attention include Barnes' representation of:

• Brown, CEO of both Cobb Electric Membership Co-op and an affiliate that sold services to Cobb EMC for a profit, in a legal battle with a Marietta family that sued him over the arrangement. Lawsuits were filed against Brown, the co-op and the affiliate alleging that the affiliate siphoned off the co-ops assets, enriching Cobb EMC insiders. Barnes is also helping to represent Brown in a current criminal investigation.

• Garland Pinholster, who resigned from Department of Transportation board after news broke that two employees accused him of sexual harassment. The state agency settled with the two accusers for nearly $150,000.

• Atlanta Councilman Jim Maddox, against allegations that he violated ethics rules by having city workers pave part of his driveway. Maddox didn't admit or deny the accusations but agreed to pay an $812 fine.

• South Georgia Superior Court Judge Brooks Blitch, on charges of serious misconduct. Blitch, who was also indicted on federal corruption charges, resigned. Another lawyer is representing Blitch in his criminal case.

Also, Barnes' firm has been paid more than $50,000 by DeKalb County to represent it on legal cases involving the new city of Dunwoody. DeKalb filed suit last year over a state law to change the way county sales tax revenue is shared with cities, including Dunwoody. His firm has also done work on a proposed suit that would challenge the legality of the referendum incorporating Dunwoody. For at least some of the work, Barnes billed the county at $473 an hour. His work on the cases may not be popular with Dunwoody residents who supported the referendum, which passed overwhelmingly last year.

Barnes has also taken on causes that could help portray him as a defender of the common Georgian.

When he left office a few months after the election, he began a stint at Atlanta Legal Aid representing the poor. His Marietta law firm still does at least 10 percent of its work for free. The firm specializes in consumer litigation.

Barnes led the legal fight against the Simon Property Group, which operates several metro Atlanta malls, challenging expiration dates and service fees on gift cards sold by the company. The Georgia Supreme Court tossed out the lawsuit. The company changed its fee and expiration policies after the lawsuit was filed.

Barnes also represented consumers suing companies they claimed committed mortgage fraud, went after a pest control company arguing that it performed inadequate treatments and inspections on homes and challenged the payday lending industry. Payday loans are advances against a worker's next paycheck, usually at triple-digit interest rates.

Most recently he represented Andrew Wordes, who was cited by Roswell officials for keeping a dozen pet chickens in his backyard. A judge dismissed the case. Barnes joked that his fee was "two dozen eggs."

Wordes has nothing but good to say about Barnes' handling of his case.

"It wasn't one of his $50 million class-action suits, but my birds are worth it," Wordes said. "It's not all about the money for Roy, it's about doing what's right."

Former Republican state Sen. Chuck Clay, another Marietta lawyer who has opposed Barnes in some high-profile cases, describes Barnes as a savvy businessman, balancing free work for the poor with cases involving fat-wallet clients.

"Roy doesn't spend a whole lot of time figuring out ways to lose money," Clay said. "He has done pro-bono cases that keep his mug on the [TV] screen, but when he charges a fee, rest assured, it's a big one."

In the Cobb EMC chief's case, the request for reimbursement included Barnes' billing at $710 an hour.

Gary Horlacher, a lawyer and former Barnes aide who is running for Secretary of State, predicted voters will hear a lot about Barnes' legal work during the 2010 governor's race.

"They [his opponents] are going to play the trial-lawyer card relentlessly," said Horlacher, a Democrat. "They highlight the bad guys you represent, but what about the others?"

Cobb County businessman Edgar "Bo" Pounds, one of the plaintiffs in a Cobb EMC lawsuit, has been friends with Barnes' since the 1970s. He said he warned Barnes that his representation of Brown, the Cobb EMC chief, could work against him politically. Pounds said he recently saw a local blog saying Barnes would lose the Cobb County vote over his representation of Brown.

"We're still friends, but it bothers me," Pounds said.

Clay said Barnes' lawsuits against businesses could present a problem. Businesses and business leaders often are the prime financial backers of campaigns.

"He has been viewed as a pro-business governor but ... [also] a lawyer who likes to sue businesses," Clay said. "Which Roy Barnes is going to be occupying the office? Is it the hard-hitting, penny-pinching businessman or the trial lawyer who files class-action suits against the businesses of Georgia?"

Republicans are already signaling their intent to bring up his challenge of the voter ID law. They are likely to portray him as soft on voter fraud, just as they called him "soft on crime."

Republicans argue the law fights voter fraud. Democrats, including Barnes, say there have been no cases of "in person" voter fraud and the law is meant to keep the elderly and poor from voting.

Barnes said, "It's absurd to say if you are opposed to that law you support voter fraud.

Republican strategist Dan McLagan, a former Perdue spokesman now working in the gubernatorial campaign of Karen Handel, made it clear voter ID will be a general election issue if Barnes gets the Democratic nomination. Handel, as secretary of state, is the state's chief elections official.

"He did sue the state to stop the photo ID law, which has been championed by Karen and favored by 80 percent of Georgians," McLagan said. "Fortunately, Barnes lost and Georgia won."

"Was it politically popular" to be against voter ID? Barnes asked. "No, but it was the right thing to do."

In the end, Barnes said he expects voters will focus on who can fix the state's problems.

"If we can't talk about why we're still stuck in traffic, why our schools are not being supported, why we're frittering away our water resources ... if they want to do that and play cute games that mean nothing, let them go ahead and do it," he said. "I'll be happy to respond to it."

How we got the story:

An AJC reporter searched through newspaper and Internet archives and court databases to review former Gov. Roy Barnes' cases. The reporter also interviewed people involved in some of the cases, county officials, lawyers, political experts, politicians and campaign staffers for the story.