Robert Barnes (attorney)

Barnes was born to a Baptist family in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the fifth of six children. Barnes' father passed away when he was a child.[5]

Barnes was awarded a scholarship to The McCallie School, a private all-male high school.[6] He was later awarded a scholarship to Yale University, which he attended for two years before transferring to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1994, citing Yale's elitism as the reason behind his decision to switch schools.[7][8] Barnes graduated from University of Wisconsin Law School in 2000.[6]

Barnes was formerly a partner at the Bernhoft Law Firm. It was there that Barnes, along with owner and managing partner Robert G. Bernhoft,[9][10] served as actor Wesley Snipes' criminal defense lawyer. In 2008, Snipes stood trial on federal charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and related counts. The jury acquitted Snipes of conspiracy and felony tax evasion but convicted him on three (out of six) counts of misdemeanor failure to file income tax returns.[11] Judge William Terrell Hodges imposed the maximum sentence of three consecutive one-year terms, which Snipes served after an unsuccessful appeal.

Barnes has also represented Ralph Nader regarding ballot access in his 2004 presidential bid,[12] eight Covington High School students,[13] and Alex Jones in the civil lawsuit following Jones' covering of the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.[14] He was also hired for Kyle Rittenhouse's defense team following the 2020 Kenosha unrest shooting[15] and as the attorney of plaintiff Dustin Hice in his sexual assault lawsuit against CNN anchor Don Lemon in 2021.[16][17][18] Barnes also represented Amy Cooper in the Central Park birdwatching incident[19]

In 2016, Barnes successfully bet on Donald Trump winning the 2016 election in European betting markets.[20][21] In 2019, Barnes began making weekly Sunday evening appearances on David Freiheit's YouTube channel, where the two discuss recent legal and political events.[22] Barnes also co-hosts a weekly Monday afternoon show on YouTube called What Are The Odds? with pollster Richard Baris.

• Official website