Barry's practice is focused on the defense of personal injury and commercial claims and litigation including those asserting product defects, construction accidents and defects, transportation and trucking accidents, business disputes, anti-competitive claims, nursing home negligence, and professional negligence of lawyers, doctors, nurses, psychologists and other healthcare providers, insurance agents and brokers, accountants, engineers, and realtors and appraisers. In the personal injury arena, Barry defends serious injury claims from single-event accidents to chemical exposures.  In the area of construction law, Barry has defended construction site injury claims, defective design and construction claims, improper component selection and failures, water intrusion and management claims, and geotechnical claims for compaction, leaching, erosion, siltation, and other environmental impacts.  The buildings and properties ranged from single-story family homes to high-rise residential and commercial developments and parking structures, multi-family developments, and retaining wall failures.  Many of these claims exposed the design professionals, owners, developers, contractors, manufacturers, and trades to potential seven- and eight-figure judgments.

Barry has taken many cases to verdict in both state and federal courts. Additionally, he has represented clients in appellate matters in state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. He is licensed to practice in federal district and appellate courts in the states of Illinois and Georgia. Barry has represented clients before governmental agencies, and in multi-district litigation and has been admitted pro hac vice in cases in other jurisdictions. He has arbitrated cases with numerous arbitration services including, the American Arbitration Association.  Barry is a Court-approved mediator in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and in the Circuit Court of the Third Judicial District of Illinois and is a registered mediator with the Office of Dispute Resolution in the State of Georgia.

Barry was one of the original three lawyers in the firm's Edwardsville office, having begun with Heyl Royster's Urbana office in 1985.  He returned to Heyl Royster in 2012, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of the Edwardsville office. He became a partner in 2016.  From 1989 to 1998, he practiced in Atlanta, Georgia, first as an associate and then a partner with Hawkins & Parnell, and then with his own firm from 1998 to 2012.

Barry has been an AV-Preeminent lawyer since 1995. He has received peer recognitions from trial lawyer associations and has been named a Super Lawyer and a Leading Lawyer. He regularly writes and presents at legal education events and is the firm's representative for the Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois.  Barry serves as a volunteer with the Lawyers Assistance Program.

• "Meeting the Prima Facie Case in Title VII Retaliatory Discharge Claims," Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Journal (1998)
• "Coverage Issues in Claims for Sexual Harassment," Georgia Defense Lawyers Association Journal (1995) 

• “Key Substantive and Procedural Errors, and Client Communication Errors”
  Legal Ethics: Top Mistakes that Lead to Malpractice Seminar 2016
• “Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists Coverage”
  The Insurance Jungle: Navigating Your Way to Successful Results Seminar 2015
• “Mapping the Uninsured and Underinsured Wilderness – Liability Coverage for Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists”
  Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, St. Louis, Missouri 2015

• Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent
• The National Trial Lawyers Association - Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Georgia (peer review)
• Ten Leaders – Greater Atlanta Personal Injury Law (nominated and selected)
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum (qualification)
• Named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list (2018-2021). The Super Lawyers selection process is based on peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of the lawyers in each state earn this designation.
• Selected as a Leading Lawyer in Illinois. Only five percent of lawyers in the state are named as Leading Lawyers.

• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Georgia
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Atlanta Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• American Association for Justice
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
• Madison County Bar Association

• State Courts of Illinois
• State Courts of Georgia
• United States Court of Appeals, Seventh & Eleventh Circuits
• United States District Court, Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
• United States District Court, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois
• United States Supreme Court

• Truancy Intervention Project – Volunteer representation of minors and families in Juvenile Court matters
• Involvement with various organizations: Buckhead Baseball, NYO, Northside UMC, Glenn Memorial UMC, Haygood UMC, Atlanta Area Roller Hockey Organization, Georgia High School Roller Hockey Association, Woodward War Eagles Hockey, GHSA Community Coach with Woodwad Academy Baseball Program