Michael Cass

mcass@tennessean.com

George Barrett, the irrepressible lawyer who defended student demonstrators early in his career and kept up the fight for civil rights nearly to the end, died Tuesday. He was 86.

The cause of death was acute pancreatitis, which sent Mr. Barrett to the hospital about two weeks ago, a family spokeswoman said.

Mr. Barrett cut a self-assured figure in Nashville's legal community for more than 50 years after graduating from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1957 and taking a job with Cecil Branstetter, who was becoming one of the South's leading labor lawyers. Routinely calling himself "The Citizen," Mr. Barrett took on authority figures with an attitude of righteous indignation whenever he thought they were abusing power.

"I don't know if another lawyer in Nashville ever practiced law at such a high level for so many decades and had such an impact," said David Garrison, a partner at Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison who started working with Mr. Barrett about 10 years ago.

Former Vice President Al Gore called Mr. Barrett "an inspiration to us all."

"At first because he was a close friend to my parents, and later because he was a close friend to me, I had the privilege of knowing and learning from George for many years," Gore said. "Our state and our nation have lost a great lawyer and an even better man. He was a beacon of progressive politics for three generations of Tennesseans."

An ardent Democrat, Mr. Barrett was close to Richard Fulton, Nashville's congressman and then mayor from the 1960s through most of the 1980s, and Tennessean editor John Seigenthaler, who died last month. But Mr. Barrett also had Republican admirers.

"I had the utmost respect for him, even though our political beliefs couldn't have been further apart," said Lew Conner, a Republican attorney and former judge.

One of Mr. Barrett's biggest cases was Geier v. Tennessee, a higher education desegregation lawsuit that lasted more than 30 years.

The suit, which Mr. Barrett filed on behalf of Tennessee State University history instructor Rita Sanders Geier in 1968, was settled in 2001. The settlement aimed to eliminate the final remnants of segregation in the state's colleges and universities by making the schools more attractive to students of all races.

"Our friend 'The Citizen' George Barrett was an incredible force for good in many ways," said John Morgan, chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents system. "His work on behalf of students and higher education ensured access and opportunity are available to every Tennessean."

Mr. Barrett represented Nashville college students who fought for integration in the early 1960s, a rare choice for a white attorney at that time. Some 50 years later, he led the legal defense of Gaile Owens, a death row inmate who was paroled in 2011 based on evidence of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband, whom she hired a man to kill.

Garrison said Mr. Barrett also played key roles in recent years in some of the nation's largest securities class-action lawsuits, fighting on behalf of investors, including pensioners, against publicly traded companies accused of defrauding the markets. And he fought unsuccessfully against the voter identification law passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2011, arguing that it unconstitutionally disenfranchised voters.

'A great sympathy for the underdog'

Jerry Martin, who started working at Mr. Barrett's firm in 2003, left to become the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee in 2010 and later returned to the firm and became a partner, said he owes his success to his "mentor and friend." They and their colleagues always had a sense of mission that made it fun to go work each day, Martin said.

"He taught me what it means to be a lawyer and the value a lawyer can have in shaping society. He had great sympathy for the underdog."

Martin said that feeling for the oppressed and downtrodden came from Mr. Barrett's Irish Catholic upbringing during the Great Depression. Raised by his mother and grandmother, who "instilled a certain toughness" in him, he came to view people and their circumstances without judgment.

"He fought all his life against what he perceived as injustice," said former U.S. Sen. Jim Sasser, a Tennessee Democrat who said Mr. Barrett was one of the first people to contribute to his first Senate campaign in 1976. "And he was very religious. I think his religion really had a lot to do with his view of life."

Mayor Karl Dean, a former Davidson County public defender and Metro law director, called Mr. Barrett "larger than life and always willing to take up an unpopular cause if he felt it was the right thing to do."

"He was a social justice champion and was certainly on the right side of history as an attorney advocate during the civil rights movement," Dean said. "He was rightfully and affectionately known as Citizen Barrett. He was beloved by many friends and respected by his adversaries."

State Comptroller Justin Wilson, a Republican and former deputy governor, said Mr. Barrett "always played fair and was a worthy opponent. He always kept his word."

Friends and colleagues marveled at Mr. Barrett's work ethic, which included going into the office every Saturday — and expecting fellow attorneys to do the same. He did just that the day before he went into the hospital, Garrison and Martin said.

"He truly loved a good fight," said attorney Dewey Branstetter, son of the late Cecil Branstetter, Mr. Barrett's first boss. "I think that truly helped keep him going. He never lost a zeal or a zest for doing it. He was just as energetic as when he started."

Mr. Barrett is survived by three daughters, Ann Louise (Lucy) Barrett Thomason of Watertown, Mary Eloise Barrett Brewer of Nashville and Kathryn Conroy Barrett Cain of Nashville; 11 grandchildren; and a sister, Sister Mary George Barrett O.P., a Dominican nun, also of Nashville. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Staff writer Brian Wilson contributed to this report. Reach Michael Cass at 615-259-8838 and on Twitter @tnmetro.