Clay A. Barkley
cbarkley@strobobarkley.com
Clay Barkley has a diverse practice focusing on environmental litigation, land use, and administrative law matters. He has significant experience representing small businesses and litigating complex cases in state and federal courts.
Clay represents developers and opposition groups in land use development matters, utility companies before state commissions and courts, and local governments and nonprofits in corporate, environmental, and education matters. Clay also represents healthcare professionals in contractual and regulatory matters.
Prior to joining Strobo Barkley, Clay worked in civil litigation for a major Louisville law firm and served as the Executive Director of the Office of Civil and Environmental Law at the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General. In that role at the Office of the Attorney General, he managed six branches within the civil division, including civil litigation, attorney general opinions, civil appeals, administrative hearings, nonprofit investigations, and the uninsured employers’ fund. He personally represented the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Kentucky Attorney General, the Governor of Kentucky, and other state entities in cases involving consumer protection, environmental law, and constitutional law issues. While working for the Medicaid Fraud Unit, he worked with a team of lawyers that obtained over $150 million dollars in judgments and settlements against drug and healthcare companies for violation of consumer protection statutes.
Before law school, Clay served as a legislative analyst for the Special Subcommittee on Energy at the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. In that capacity, he drafted energy and environmental legislation that amended the regulatory scheme for electric utilities in Kentucky. He also served as a staff attorney, following law school, for the Chief Judge of the 48th Judicial Circuit, in Frankfort.
Clay holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Regional Planning, focusing in environmental planning, from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville.
Clay currently is a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and on the advisory board of the National Student Legal Defense Network.