Jim Barz is a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and manages the Firm’s Chicago office. Barz is an experienced trial lawyer who has been lead counsel in dozens of evidentiary and contested hearings, tried 18 cases to verdict, and argued 9 cases in the Seventh Circuit. Barz is a registered CPA, former federal prosecutor, and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law from 2008 to 2025, teaching courses on trial advocacy and class action litigation.
Barz has represented investors in securities fraud class actions that have resulted in recoveries of over $2 billion. Barz was the lead counsel in In re Valeant Pharms. Int’l, Inc. Sec. Litig., and secured a $1.21 billion recovery for investors, a case that Vanity Fair reported as “the corporate scandal of its era.” This is the largest securities class action settlement against a pharmaceutical manufacturer and the ninth largest securities class action settlement ever.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America | 2026 | Plaintiff Securities Litigation, Class Actions |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2025 | Securities Litigation |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America | 2025 | Plaintiff Securities Litigation, Class Actions |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2024 | Securities Litigation |
| The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2023 | Securities Litigation |
| The 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2022 | Securities Litigation |
| The 2021 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2021 | Securities Litigation |
| The 2020 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2020 | Securities Litigation |
| Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2019 | Securities Litigation |
Barz has also secured substantial recoveries for investors in HCA ($215 million, M.D. Tenn.); Motorola ($200 million, N.D. Ill.); Exelon ($173 million, N.D. Ill.); Sprint ($131 million, D. Kan.); Orbital ATK ($108 million, E.D. Va.); Walgreens ($105 million, N.D. Ill.); Nutanix ($71 million, N.D. Cal.); Psychiatric Solutions ($65 million, M.D. Tenn.); Oak Street ($60 million, N.D. Ill.); Hospira ($60 million, N.D. Ill.); and other matters. Barz also handles whistleblower, antitrust, and pro bono matters and was honored by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois with an Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service in 2021.
Before joining the Firm, Barz served as a federal prosecutor in Chicago, trying cases and supervising investigations involving public corruption, financial frauds, tax offenses, and money laundering. Barz was a partner at Mayer Brown LLP from 2006 to 2011 and an associate from 1998 to 2002, where he conducted internal investigations and handled securities and antitrust cases. Barz was also active in their pro bono program where, in his first jury trial, he won an acquittal on all charges and, in his first appeal, he obtained the reversal of a conviction based on the trial judge having solicited a bribe from the defendant.
Barz earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in public accounting from Loyola University Chicago, graduating summa cum laude and first in his class. He received the ICPAS Excel Award for scoring in the top 1% of the nation on the CPA exam. Barz received his Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and graduated cum laude.