Ben Barnes is a partner in Dowd Bennett’s Dallas office. He represents companies and business owners in high-stakes commercial disputes, with a particular focus on energy, chemical, and industrial matters. Clients rely on Ben for practical, business judgment and courtroom-ready strategy in cases where outcomes materially affect operations, contracts, and enterprise value.
Ben’s experience spans complex contract and business tort disputes, fiduciary and governance conflicts, fraud and unfair competition claims, antitrust-related issues, restrictive covenant disputes, and restructuring-adjacent litigation.
Ben is actively involved in litigation before the Texas Business Court, where he has handled large commercial disputes and litigated threshold jurisdictional and early-case issues. He helps clients navigate the forum efficiently while maintaining a clear focus on leverage, case trajectory, and trial positioning.
Ben works with clients across a range of industries beyond energy and industrials, including real estate, financial services, consumer products, and family-trust disputes. When it serves the business objective, he also structures alternative fee arrangements, including contingency or hybrid models, to align incentives and manage risk.
Ben’s work has been recognized by legal publications and peers, including Benchmark Litigation; recommendations by Legal 500 United States for energy litigation; inclusion as a Legal 500 “City Elite” for Energy Litigation in Dallas; selection among Texas’s Top 100 Up-and-Coming Lawyers by Texas Super Lawyers; and selection to the Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation.
Before entering private practice, Ben clerked for the Honorable Raymond W. Gruender of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Ben has served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve since 2010 and most recently served as a policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. He is also a member of the National Council of Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, his alma mater.
Representative Matters:
Trial counsel for utilities services contractor in catastrophic injury case.
Trial counsel for utilities services contractor in breach of contract dispute in Texas Business Court.
ChaseCorporation v. Arcanum Support Services, LLC: Trial counsel for Chase Corporation in force majeure dispute arising from July 2024 tornado in Osage County, Oklahoma.
WingResouces, LLC v. Hoffman: Trial counsel for royalty owner in dispute over purchase of overriding royalty interests.
Air Products, LLC v. EDF Energy Services, LLC: Obtained $40 million judgment for Air Products in power sale dispute against EDF Energy Services arising from the February 2021 Texas winter storm.
Trial counsel to American-based fuel producer in environmental contamination and trespass dispute.
Columbia Medical Center of Lewisville Subsidiary, L.P., et al. v. Multiplan, Inc., et al.: Trial counsel to Blue Bell Creameries, Inc. in a breach of contract case with a hospital system concerning reimbursement rates.
Goosehead Insurance Agency LLC v. Farther Finance Advisors, LLC, et al.: Trial counsel to Farther Finance Advisors in noncompete and restrictive covenant dispute with Goosehead Insurance Agency.
Concluded representations undertaken prior to Ben’s affiliation with Dowd Bennett:
In re: East Palestine Train Derailment: Trial counsel to GATX Corporation in class-action and CERCLA litigation arising from the February 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, and the resulting damage.
Public Utility Commission of Texas v. Luminant Energy Company, LLC: Appellate counsel to intervenor TexGen Power, LLC in Luminant’s challenge to various emergency orders issued during the February 2021 Texas winter storm.
Coalition of PJM Capacity Resources v. PJM Interconnection, LLC: Counsel to a coalition of capacity resources in the PJM Regional Transmission Organization in their challenge to penalties assessed by PJM during Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022.
Trial counsel to a natural gas pipeline company in a dispute arising from an Operational Flow Order and gas imbalance charges.
Peaker Power, LLC v. Shell Energy North America (US) L.P.: Trial counsel to Peaker Power in a $45 million dispute against Shell arising from the February 2021 Texas winter storm.
Allen, et al. v. Eland Energy, Inc., et al.: Trial counsel to the Allen 2018 Family Trust in breach of fiduciary duty litigation in Dallas County, Texas.
In re Winter Storm Uri Litigation: Trial counsel to multiple power generators and midstream companies in Texas Multi-District Litigation involving claims arising from the February 2021 Texas winter storm.
In re SiO2 Medical Products, Inc.: Trial counsel to SiO2 Medical Products, Inc. and certain of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
In re Venator Materials PLC: Trial counsel to Venator Materials PLC and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
In re Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.: Trial counsel to Calpine Corporation and its affiliates in connection with its proof of claim in the Chapter 11 case of Brazos in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
In re Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc.: Trial counsel for Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc. and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 restructuring and related adversary proceedings in the District of Delaware.
JELD-WEN, Inc. v. Steves, et al.: Trial counsel to JELD-WEN in trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty litigation in Bexar County, Texas.
In re JUUL Labs, Inc. Product Liability Litigation: Trial counsel to JLI in multi-jurisdiction litigation involving product liability, sales, marketing, and design claims.
Red Lion Medical Safety, Inc., et al. v. General Electric Company: Trial counsel to General Electric Health in a federal jury trial against 17 plaintiff independent service providers in a complicated antitrust case in the Eastern District of Texas. Obtained a take-nothing judgment against 2 of the plaintiffs and obtained a new trial against the remaining plaintiffs, leading to a favorable confidential settlement.
In re Acis Capital Management, LP: Litigation counsel to Highland Capital Management, LP, a multibillion-dollar private equity fund, in the involuntary bankruptcy proceedings of its former portfolio affiliates, Acis Capital Management LP and Acis Capital GP, LLC.
Drivetrain, LLC v. Hall: Trial counsel to the Adeptus Litigation Trust in a lawsuit against former officers of Adeptus Health, Inc., a former publicly traded company that once operated the largest network of freestanding emergency rooms in the country, in the Eastern District of Texas. Secured a favorable confidential settlement.
Davis v. Gutierrez, et al.: Trial counsel to the GTAT Litigation Trust, successor to GT Advanced Technologies Inc., a former publicly traded company, in a corporate governance lawsuit against its former officers. The case resulted in a favorable confidential settlement.
Triton 2414, LLC et al. v. Red Akard Place, LLC: Trial counsel to Red Development, LLC in a suit by an adjacent landowner to enjoin the construction of a $300 million mixed-use development known as “The Union” in Uptown Dallas. Obtained an order denying the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction and secured a favorable confidential settlement.
Highland Park Emergency Center, LLC, et al. v. Endeavor Medical Systems, LP, et al.: Trial counsel to Endeavor Medical Systems in a trade secrets dispute. Obtained partial summary judgment, which reduced the available damages to the plaintiff, and secured a favorable confidential settlement.
Confidential client: Lead trial counsel to a international law firm in a lawsuit involving legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Secured full dismissal of all legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims brought directly against the firm and successfully defended the judgment on appeal.
May v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC: Trial counsel to Nationstar in a lawsuit involving wrongful foreclosure claims. Secured a favorable verdict for a minute fraction of the plaintiff’s claimed damages.
Texas
Colorado
J.D., magna cum laude, Washington University School of Law
B.M., New York University
Hon. Raymond Gruender, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Major, United States Marine Corps Reserve, 2010–Present
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, Litigation Bankruptcy, 2023-present
The Legal 500 United States – Energy Litigation: Oil and Gas, 2023
Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40 by D Magazine – 2020, 2022
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, Commercial Litigation, 2022-present
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, 2022-present
Super Lawyers “Up-and-Coming 100” (2023) and “Rising Stars” for Business Litigation and Bankruptcy (2018-2023) by Texas Super Lawyers
Dowd Bennett is a litigation firm with extensive courtroom experience. Led by trial-seasoned lawyers, including former federal prosecutors and judicial law clerks, our team shares tenacity, a passion for seeing cases through trial and a complete commitment to client service.
