James Barry is a Partner based in Pogust Goodhead’s New Jersey office. He predominantly pursues complex litigation involving environmental contamination, mass torts, and class/collective actions involving data breaches, consumer fraud and employee wage theft.

Throughout his career, James has taken on some of the largest companies in the world on behalf of consumers, homeowners, workers, and normal people cheated or injured by those companies. His commitment to pursuing compensation for his clients stretches through trial and appeal, which has resulted in millions of dollars returned to consumers and people injured by companies and individuals.

James believes in the power of effectively litigating class and collective actions to address power imbalances and forcing corporations to pay for the damage that they have caused. He is currently pursuing investigations into privacy violations, consumer fraud and environmental contamination.

His leadership roles have included his appointment to the Plaintiff Steering Committee in In re Experian Data Breach Litigation, 8:15-cv-01592-AG-DFM (C.D.CA.) and Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in In re Proceed Mesh Litigation (Proceed Surgical Mesh and Proceed Ventral Patch Hernia Mesh), MCL 630 (Atlantic County).

James Barry is deeply involved in his local New Jersey community, serving on the Planning Board, Environmental Advisory, and Democratic Committee.

During his career, James has been a part of a number of noteworthy cases including Kernahan v. Home Warranty Admin. of Florida, 236 N.J. 301 (2019), Spade v. Select Comfort, 232 N.J. 504 (2018), Moore v. Atlantic County, 2018 WL 4354304 (App. Div. 2018), Duke v. All American Ford, 2018 WL 3596274 (App. Div. 2018), Dugan v. TGI Fridays, Inc., et al., 231 N.J. 24 (2017), and many more.

James has been frequently mentioned in legal press for his consumer protection work. Recent mentions include his involvement in a data breach suit against HealthEC in January 2024 Healthcare Co. HealthEC Hit With Data Breach Suit and a class action tackling underpaid auto injury coverage by Travelers in 2023 NJ Suit Says Travelers Underpaid Auto Injury Coverage.

James is also an accomplished author and speaker, select presentations include: New Jersey Association for Justice 2023 Boardwalk Seminar: Data Breach and Privacy Litigation, New Jersey State Bar Association (ICLE) October 2019: Class Action Playbook, New Jersey Association for Justice 2017 Boardwalk Seminar: Data Breach:  Who is Looking at What?, New Jersey State Bar Association (ICLE) 2019: How the Latest Consumer Protection Laws Impact Your Clients and Practice, New Jersey State Bar Association (ICLE) 2019: Class Action Playbook, HarrisMartin – Atlanta 2017, Equifax Data Breach Litigation Conference. He co-authored 2020 New Jersey Mass Torts & Class Actions Treatise (NJICLE), Chapter 10 – New Jersey Class Actions, with Hon. Joel Schneider, U.S.M.J.