University of Georgia School of Law
Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic
Athens, GA 30602
United States
B.A., University of Georgia
J.D., Georgia State University
James “Trey” Barnett serves as the post-graduate fellow in the University of Georgia School of Law Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) Clinic. In this role, he assists with the provision of direct legal services to survivors of child sexual abuse in juvenile court and civil tort litigation. He participates in litigation and policy advocacy, which includes drafting and filing pleadings, appearing at hearings on behalf of clients, conducting legal research and maintaining open lines of communication with clients.
Prior to joining the clinic, Barnett was an assistant public defender for the Law Office of the DeKalb County Public Defender for nearly three years. In this role, he represented clients accused of misdemeanors and conducted more than 1,000 interviews of clients accused of felonies and misdemeanors. He also second-chaired a murder trial in the Superior Court of DeKalb County.
Barnett earned his bachelor’s degree from UGA and his Juris Doctor from Georgia State University. While in law school, Barnett served as an extern/intern at the DeKalb County Office of the Public Defender, the Fulton County Public Defender, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as well as worked as a contributing editor for the National Lawyers Guild Review.
He also received a graduate certificate from the University of Denver Publishing Institute.