Monty L. Barnett was born in Rawlins, Wyoming, and grew up on a ranch in rural Carbon County. Following high school, he worked in the local coal mines for six years, before starting college at the University of Wyoming in 1985.
He began his employment with White and Steele in 1991 as a summer law clerk between his second and third years of law school. After graduating from the University of Wyoming College of Law, he joined the firm as an associate, 34 years ago. Since then, his practice has focused on the defense of civil cases throughout the State of Wyoming, which has covered every judicial district in the state. More recently, he has also been serving as a mediator in a broad variety of civil cases in Wyoming.
Monty holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, the highest peer rating given to attorneys. He has also been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America since 2013, in the area of personal injury litigation. Monty has tried numerous cases to verdict in state and federal courts in Wyoming and Colorado. His practice focuses on litigation, including the direct representation of a number of insurance companies, as well as the defense of those companies’ insureds who have been sued by third parties. He defends a wide variety of liability claims, including medical malpractice, products liability, construction liability, automobile/trucking accidents, premises liability and a variety of recreational injury cases. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of topics, including dram shop liability, bad faith, personal injury defense, automobile/trucking accidents, premises liability, wrongful death, and liability associated with sports and recreational activities.
Monty has served on the legislative committee of the Defense Lawyers Association of Wyoming, as well as a liaison between the Wyoming State Bar and the University of Wyoming College of Law. He has also been appointed by the Wyoming Supreme Court to serve on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee for the Wyoming State Bar, and he is currently serving as a member of the University of Wyoming College of Law Dean’s Advisory Board.