James R. Barnes
Founding attorney. Florida Bar 1990. 14,500+ cases, 211 trials, 25 murder cases, 50+ capital-case trials.
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About the firm
A father-and-son firm with a trial lawyer’s spine
Most defense firms around here are one attorney and a cell phone. This one is two Florida Bar attorneys with ample staff behind them, working every case as a team, with the phones answered around the clock.
Since 1990
Thirty-six years on this coast, and counting
James R. Barnes opened his practice in Pensacola in 1990 and never left. Thirty-six years later he has handled more than 14,500 cases, 1,400 of them DUI, and taken 211 to trial, more than some judges saw before they took the bench.
In 2022 his son Mason joined the firm after graduating cum laude, near the top of his class, and he has practiced criminal law exclusively ever since. Together they are the only father-and-son criminal defense team in the area, and by the state’s own numbers, the firm handles the most criminal cases in Escambia County year after year.
The office on E. La Rua Street runs as one team. Our office manager has run it, and answered its phones, for 36 years. When you call, you reach people who know your name and your case, because everyone here works every case.
The team
Every person here works your case
Mason Barnes
Attorney. Florida Bar 2022, cum laude, criminal law exclusively. 1,750+ cases and the area’s go-to for juvenile defense.
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The office
An office manager with 36 years on these phones and a legal assistant we’d put up against anyone’s. Every file, every client, every deadline: known, tracked, and handled.
Prosecutors give their best offers to the lawyers they know will pick a jury. We built 36 years of reputation on being those lawyers. The trial-first philosophy
How we work
Trial-first, even when you never want a trial
Ninety percent of the defense bar never tries a case, and every prosecutor knows exactly who they are. When the state knows your lawyer will go all the way, your case gets treated differently from the first phone call.
We prepare every case as if a jury will hear it. Most never get there, and that’s usually the point: the best dismissals, reductions, and offers go to the lawyers who don’t blink, and who have been in the trenches thousands of times.
We also know every judge and prosecutor in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, because we’ve stood in front of them thousands of times. No backdoor deals. Just the credibility that comes from showing up, prepared, for 36 years.
Pensacola, born and raised
We defend the community we live in
James has called this coast home for 40 years. Mason grew up in Gulf Breeze and has lived here his whole life. When your family is in trouble in Escambia or Santa Rosa County, you’re not hiring an out-of-town firm with a local landing page. You’re hiring neighbors.
Free consultation ยท 24/7
Talk to a Barnes about your case
Nights, weekends, and holidays included. We’ll take it from here.