David Allen Barber
Kentucky Supreme Court
Justice David Allen Barber was appointed in March 2015 to serve as the Supreme Court justice for the 7th Appellate District, which is made up of 22 Eastern Kentucky counties. Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Justice Barber to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Will T. Scott in January 2015.
Justice Barber was a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge for the 7th Appellate District from 2000 to 2007 and has been an administrative law judge. He has served as an attorney in public service and private practice during his 34-year career.
The justice came to the Supreme Court from his post as a policy and legal adviser to House Speaker Greg Stumbo. He served in a similar role as general counsel for the House of Representatives from 1990-1992. During this period, he was appointed by then-Gov. Wallace Wilkinson as an administrative law judge and presided in workers’ compensation cases for the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims.
In private practice, Justice Barber was a partner in the law firm of Richardson, Barber & Williamson in Owingsville prior to joining the Supreme Court. He helped found and was a partner in Stumbo, Bowling & Barber, which grew into the largest law firm in Eastern Kentucky representing injured people. Justice Barber began in private law practice in Prestonsburg, where he practiced law by day with Woodrow Burchett and taught history at night at Prestonsburg Community College.
Justice Barber has been in public service since earning his juris doctor from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. He served as the attorney for the city of Martin and the Floyd County School Board in the five years after law school and then was elected as Floyd County attorney.
He has served as a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission, the Legislative Ethics Commission and the Kentucky Bar Association’s Legislative Outreach Committee.
- Kentucky
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- Justice
- Kentucky Supreme Court
- - Current
- Policy and Legal Adviser to House Speaker Greg Stumbo
- House Speaker
- Partner
- Richardson, Barber & Williamson
- Judge
- Kentucky Court of Appeals
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- House of Representatives
- General Counsel
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- Appointed by then-Gov. Wallace Wilkinson as an administrative law judge and presided in workers’ compensation cases for the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims.
- University of Louisville
- J.D. | Law
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- Kentucky State Bar
- Member
- Current
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