Ben Barnett

Ben Barnett is a leading eDiscovery attorney who has played a key strategic role in significant civil and criminal matters for more than 17 years. Many of the eDiscovery strategies that Mr. Barnett developed in the crucible of national multi-district litigations in the U.S. now serve as “best practices” for companies facing serial litigation and investigations. Mr. Barnett helped engineer and implement Dechert’s client-focused eDiscovery Advisory Team (eDAT) and Preferred Vendor Program (PVP) which aim to transform eDiscovery from an area of legal and financial risks to a source of strategic strength supporting clients’ litigation and business objectives. In the past decade, Mr. Barnett’s work has increasingly been for clients facing simultaneous multi-jurisdictional criminal investigations and civil litigation such as the Takata Airbag litigation which arose from the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.

Recently, Mr. Barnett was the chief architect of the disclosure strategy for the global Airbus investigation which resulted in a same-day resolution with authorities in France, the UK, and the U.S. in 2020. Working within a client-created Virtual Law Firm, Mr. Barnett designed, implemented, and managed a strategy to accelerate the identification and production of key evidence to the authorities in three jurisdictions while navigating a maze of different data security laws, privacy restrictions, languages, and legal privilege regimes. This unified strategic approach significantly reduced the time and cost of disclosure and generated millions in cooperation credit for Airbus. Airbus , the VLF, and the Dechert team received multiple awards for their ground-breaking work in the investigation and in 2020 Mr. Barnett was the recipient of a North American Innovation Lawyer Award from the Financial Times for his work on the Airbus investigation. In 2022, Mr. Barnett was recognized by Chambers USA for his outstanding work in the area of Nationwide E-Discovery & Information Governance.

Through this client work, Ben has expanded his expertise into privacy and cybersecurity issues, including data transfers between jurisdictions, navigating national blocking statutes and privacy regulations, and the impact of the tectonic shift to cloud-based data storage. In addition to addressing these issues in the context of litigation and investigations, Mr. Barnett also advises clients on pro-active and holistic data management strategies and data monetization projects.

Mr. Barnett maintains an active pro bono appellate practice in keeping with his long-standing commitment to public service. Numerous Dechert associates have done their first federal appellate oral arguments in these cases and Mr. Barnett was among the Dechert attorneys recognized by the Philadelphia Bar Foundation by its 2020 Pro Bono Award.

Prior to joining Dechert, Mr. Barnett served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. He also worked on Capitol Hill for five years prior to and during law school.

CDR Summer Litigation Symposium 2017 — London (June 29, 2017)
Discovery Best Practices post-Actos: Minimizing the Risk of Harsh Defense Sanctions in an MDL — ACI's 19th Annual Drug and Med Litigation Conference, New York, NY (December 9, 2014)
One Year Later: The eDiscovery Amendments to the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure — Philadelphia Bar Association 2013 Bench-Bar & Annual Conference, Atlantic City, NJ (October 4, 2013)
The Evolution of Legal Project Management — Project Management CLE Institute, Philadelphia, PA (September 13, 2012)
The Keys to Successful Execution of a Litigation Project Management Plan — Litigation Project Management 2011, New York, NY (March 3, 2011)
Responding to the Viral Age of Social Media — Presented by Dechert in Association with the Delaware Valley Area Corporate Counsel Association, Philadelphia, PA (September 23, 2010)
Project Management as a Risk Management Tool — The Hildebrandt Institute 9th Annual Law Firm General Counsel's Forum, New York, NY (September 13, 2010)
Data Security, Corporate Compliance and E-Discovery: Navigating the Data Morass — NJCCA's 7th Annual All-Day Conference, Philadelphia, PA (September 24, 2009)
E-Discovery and Document Management Forum — Presented by the American Conference Institute with Sponsorship by Dechert, Philadelphia, PA (September 22, 2009)
Ensuring the Integrity and Sufficiency of Your E-Discovery and Information Management Process and Procedures in a Tumultuous Market: Overcoming Complications Arising from Bankruptcies, M&A, and Departing Employees —American Conference Institute's E-Discovery and Document Management Conference, Philadelphia, PA (September 22, 2009)
Document Management & E-Discovery Corporate Counsel Forum — Presented by the American Conference Institute with Sponsorship by Dechert, New York, NY (September 17, 2008)
Privilege, Communication, and Accountability: What Has Changed Since Qualcomm? — American Conference Institute's 6th Annual Advanced Forum on Document Management & E-Discovery, New York, NY (September 17, 2008)
E-Dialogue with Law Firms & Outside Entities — Corporate E-Discovery Forum, Washington, DC (June 15, 2007)
E-Discovery & Litigation Readiness for Life Sciences — Presented by the American Conference Institute with Sponsorship by Dechert, New York, NY (February 27, 2007)
View From the Bench: What the Life Sciences Industry Must Know About the New FRE Changes to Overcome Common E-Discovery Challenges — ACI's E-Discovery & Litigation Readiness for Life Sciences, New York, NY (February 27, 2007)
Defending Third-Party Claims — American Conference Institute's Drug and Medical Device Litigation Conference, New York, NY (December 14, 2005)
Winning E-Discovery and Electronic Document Management Strategies: A Comprehensive Guide for Corporate Counsel — Drug and Medical Device Litigation Conference, New York, NY (March 1, 2005)
Medical Monitoring Claims Under PA Law — Hot Topics in Product Liability - A Pennsylvania Bar Institute Continuing Legal Education Course, Northeast Philadelphia, PA, and Mechanicsburg, PA (December 3, 2003)