A summer on a Gulf Oil rig in Colorado persuaded Barry that geology, his major at Williams College, was probably not his true calling. After graduating from Williams in 1958, Barry went on to The University of Virginia Law school and, after graduation from Virginia in 1961, to the London School of Economics. Gulf was still interested, if Barry was not, offering him a job in its legal department when he returned from England.
Family roots and professional contacts in Chester County led him to West Chester. Here, his instincts told him, a general practice in what was then rural Pennsylvania would provide the challenges, variety and excitement that he felt were at the core of a fulfilling career. His instincts were not wrong.
Barry was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1963, as well as to U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Supreme Court. He practiced in a small West Chester firm until 1968 when he and Ronald C. Nagle formed a partnership and opened an office on Miner Street.
Working in a small firm at a time when specialization was a big-city, big-firm phenomenon provided plenty of chances to explore. As the firm's client base developed and more attorneys were added, but as the legal profession became more specialty oriented it became more difficult to practice as a generalist. Barry, having done extensive work in divorce and family law, moved in that direction. He was asked to serve on the Chester County Domestic Relations Rules Committee that revamped the divorce code in the early 1980s when Pennsylvania adopted its new "no fault" divorce code.
Today, Barry continues to focus on domestic matters as well as pursuing his interest in corporate and general business law, specializing in divorce cases that often include privately held companies. Barry explains that "in the domestic area, the style or manner in which a case is handled is as important as any other aspect of the process. Part of what I try to convey to a client is that I will see a client through the process as cost-effectively and efficiently as possible, but that the pursuit of resolution is truly a team effort. For the attorney-client relationship to work, a client has to have confidence in me and must match my commitment to be fair-minded and honest."
In the corporate area, Barry serves as general outside counsel to a number of local, national and multinational corporations and serves on the boards of others. He also serves as a consultant to the Ethics Committee of Vishay International in Malvern.
Barry is a member of the Chester County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations, serving the former on its Board of Directors as a member,1967-1982; Treasurer, 1967-1978; Vice President, 1980 and President, 1981; and as a member of the Executive Committee, 1967-1981.
Though he was raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, Barry's parents were both Chester Countians. He is named for his maternal grandfather, Dr. Chester Leroy Barry, who practiced medicine in Oxford. His father's family were hoteliers in Phoenixville and Coatesville. Today, Barry lives in Birmingham Township. He enjoys bad golf and gardening at his retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore, as well as spending time with Christine, his two sons and their families.
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118 W. MARKET STREET
SUITE 300
WEST CHESTER, PA
19382-2928
(610) 436-4400 Ext.100
(610) 436-8305 FAX
bbuckley@buckleyllp.com
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