Meet #MOLawyers: David Barrett

David Barrett is a sole practitioner in Jefferson City who focuses on professional licensing matters. He is a graduate of the Brigham Young University School of Law and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1993. He is chair of the bar’s Practice and Procedure Division and a charter facilitator with The Missouri Bar’s Complaint Resolution Program. He is past chair of The Missouri Bar Administrative Law Committee and has reviewed or authored chapters in several of the bar’s deskbooks. 

What do you enjoy most about being a division chair? 
The best thing about being a division chair is making sure that the structure is available for Missouri lawyers to learn practical parts of the practice, then, in a decade or two, share what they have learned with the next generation of lawyers.

What would you say to lawyers interested in joining a Missouri Bar committee?
Anyone can be – and almost everyone should start as – a general practitioner. But my joy as a lawyer has been finding something that I can be good at where being good makes a difference for clients. 

What’s the most rewarding part about working in your specific area of practice?
Members and staff of the boards and commission that regulate professional practices in Missouri do great work, and some of my clients have stubbed their toes (or worse). But there are two sides to every story and although our system of administrative decision making is not perfect, it works well to sort out facts and give credit to the resiliency (or even rehabilitation) of practitioners. 

What is the best professional advice you ever received? 
Knowing the law (by reading statutes, regulations, and cases) is more helpful to clients than your thoughts about what the law should be. 

What is an interesting, unique fact about yourself? 
I was a police officer before I went to law school. When I started teaching at the police academy, I renewed my license and have worked as a deputy sheriff once or twice a month for nearly 20 years. So, the trainees give me “street credit.” 

Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity. Know a lawyer who you think should be featured in “Meet #MOLawyers”? Email Assistant Editor Genna Tlustos at gtlustos@mobar.org.