Barton (Bart) Rankin began his legal career working as a law clerk to Chief Justice Josh R. MorrissIII of the Texas Sixth Court of Appeals. Bart spent the next 19-plus years working as an associate and partner with Baker & McKenzie, LLP. While there, Bart practiced in the firm’s intellectual property and complex commercial litigation sections. In that time, Bart represented large, multinational corporations in civil disputes pending in state and federal courts nationwide, as well as numerous international arbitration proceedings. With over two decades of experience in complex, multi-party, civil litigation, Bart has successfully managed lawsuits valued in the billions of dollars through the trial and appellate stages.

Representative Matters

• Represented multinational game developer in copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
• Represented major U.S. financial services provider in an arbitration proceeding involving claims of fraud and trade secret misappropriation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Represented major U.S. location services company in patent infringement litigation pending the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
• Represented multinational electronics manufacturer and retailer in patent infringement litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
• Represented major U.S. financial services provider in patent infringement litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
• Represented major national provider of banking and payments technology in patent infringement litigation pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
• Represented numerous U.S. financial service providers in patent infringement matters pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
• Represented numerous multinational consumer goods manufacturers in trademark infringement and counterfeiting actions pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
• Represented multinational fire suppression company against antitrust and breach of contract claims in litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
• Represented major U.S. insurance provider in class-action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
• Represented multinational poultry producer in contract, construction defect, and class-action litigation pending in state and federal courts nationwide.

Taking the experience gained from these and many other similar representations, Bart, along with Jay F. Utley, founded Forrest Weldon Law Group, LLP.  The Firm’s purpose is to bring world-class legal experience and expertise to work on behalf of plaintiffs fighting serious legal battles against some of the world’s largest corporations.

Admissions

• Texas (all state trial and appellate courts)
• U.S. Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• United States Court of Federal Claims

Education

• Texas Tech University School of Law (J.D., cum laude)
• Texas Tech University (B.A.)