Kershaw Talley Barlow

What Kershaw Talley Barlow does

Kershaw Talley Barlow is a Sacramento, California-based plaintiff trial law firm founded in 2005 (originally as Kershaw Cook & Talley) and rebranded under its current name in August 2022. The firm concentrates on high-stakes personal injury, class action, mass tort, and consumer protection litigation, with particular depth in automotive defects, pharmaceutical and medical device injuries, environmental and toxic exposure (including California wildfire and utility liability matters), and wage-and-hour class actions. Notable matters include the $680 million CalPERS long-term care class settlement, the $390 million American Honda dealer RICO class settlement, the $211 million BMW fuel pump settlement, the $180 million General Chemical toxic spill settlement, and Camp/Dixie Fire litigation against PG&E, contributing to a cumulative recovery figure exceeding $1 billion. The team of six to seven attorneys is augmented by an in-house Scientific Director (William J. Lee) with CDC and epidemiology credentials, and is supported by a formal Referring Attorneys network and a multi-channel intake system spanning the firm's website, phone intake, blog, and earned media.

The firm operates a pure contingency fee revenue model across all practice areas — clients pay no legal fees unless the firm recovers compensation — supplemented by free initial consultations. Distribution is direct-to-consumer with no resellers or channel intermediaries; intake flows through website contact forms, a dedicated phone line (916-520-6639), attorney referrals, and content marketing. There are no publicly disclosed revenue figures, no external funding rounds, and no parent company; ownership rests with the named partners (Kershaw, Talley, Barlow) under a traditional law firm partnership structure. The firm holds an AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell rating and sustained Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers recognition, with named partners listed on Northern California Super Lawyers for between 7 and 22 consecutive years.

Name

Kershaw Talley Barlow

Legal name

Kershaw Talley Barlow

Website

https://ktblegal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kershaw Talley Barlow is a Sacramento-based plaintiff trial law firm representing individuals and classes in personal injury, mass tort, and complex class action litigation — including California wildfire, pharmaceutical, medical device, automotive, and consumer fraud matters — on a contingency fee basis with over $1 billion in cumulative recoveries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plaintiff-side Trial Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

Keywords

• Personal injury litigation
• Class action lawsuits
• Mass tort litigation
• Defective medical device lawsuits
• Consumer protection litigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Contingency Fee Legal Representation: The firm operates on a contingency fee basis for personal injury, class action, and mass tort cases. Clients pay no legal fees unless the firm recovers compensation on their behalf. This is the primary revenue model for the practice.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kershaw Talley Barlow is a Sacramento-based plaintiff-side trial law firm that represents individuals and classes in personal injury, mass tort, class action, consumer protection, defective medical device, pharmaceutical, and California wildfire litigation matters. Cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, with no legal fees charged unless the firm recovers compensation. The firm maintains an in-house scientific practice, headed by an attorney-scientist with epidemiology training, to support causation analysis in complex product liability and toxic exposure cases.

Product overview

Kershaw Talley Barlow is a Sacramento-based trial law firm offering comprehensive legal services through distinct practice areas: Class Actions (handling consumer fraud, antitrust, wage violations), Mass Torts (defective drugs, medical devices, environmental exposure), Personal Injury (auto defects, catastrophic injuries, wrongful death), Consumer Protection and Fraud, Defective Medical Devices (hip replacements, recalls), California Wildfire Attorneys (Camp Fire, Dixie Fire, utility liability), and Pharmaceutical Litigation (Depo-Provera, Dupixent, Suboxone, Tylenol). The firm has recovered over $1 billion for clients and represents thousands in complex litigation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Class Action Representation Representation of groups of plaintiffs with similar claims against common corporate defendants in antitrust, consumer fraud, wage and hour, and product liability matters. Includes notable settlements such as $680M CalPERS, $390M American Honda dealer, $211M BMW fuel pump, $87M UPS drivers, and $46M Jenny Craig.
• Mass Tort Representation Litigation of mass harm claims on behalf of individuals harmed by defective drugs, medical devices, environmental contamination, and other large-scale incidents such as California wildfires. Notable matters include the $180M General Chemical toxic spill settlement involving 65,000 class members.
• Personal Injury Representation Legal representation for individuals seriously injured by auto defects, catastrophic injuries (burns, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury), defective drugs, elder abuse, environmental injuries, nursing home abuse, product liability, and wrongful death.
• Consumer Protection and Fraud Representation Legal services addressing defective consumer products, electronic privacy violations, improper banking practices and fees, false advertising, and whistleblower/qui tam lawsuits on behalf of consumers.
• Defective Medical Device Representation Representation for victims of defective medical devices, including Exactech, DePuy, Stryker, Wright Profemur, Biomet, and Smith & Nephew hip replacement systems and other recalled medical products.
• California Wildfire Representation Legal representation for victims of California wildfires, including Camp Fire and Dixie Fire lawsuits and utility liability claims against companies such as PG&E, covering property damage, personal injury, and wrongful death caused by utility-related fires.
• Camp Lejeune Representation Legal representation for veterans and families affected by water contamination at Camp Lejeune Marine Base, seeking compensation for health injuries caused by toxic exposure at the base.
• Pharmaceutical Litigation Mass tort representation for individuals harmed by defective pharmaceuticals, including Depo-Provera, Dupixent, Suboxone, Tylenol (acetaminophen), TDF-related injuries, and Ellacor scarring.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1 billion in verdicts and settlements recovered for clients
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel relationship in the Dodge & Jeep Active Headrest Class Action litigation. KTB attorneys Stuart C. Talley, Ian J. Barlow, and Jack R. Davis serve as lead counsel alongside Lieff Cabraser in this multidistrict litigation case ongoing since 2018.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman: National plaintiff firm focused on mass torts, class actions, and catastrophic personal injury, with active practice areas overlapping KTB's pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer fraud work. Operates on contingency and competes for lead-counsel roles in the same MDLs KTB targets.
• Weitz & Luxenberg: Long-established plaintiff mass tort and personal injury firm with active pharmaceutical, medical device, and environmental practices. Comparable contingency-fee model and overlapping litigation theories against large corporate defendants.
• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: Nationally recognized plaintiff class action and mass tort firm with whom KTB serves as co-counsel in the Dodge & Jeep Active Headrest MDL. Both firms prosecute large consumer, automotive, and mass tort class actions on contingency, serving similar plaintiff populations with overlapping practice areas.
• Simmons Hanly Conroy: National plaintiff firm with strong mass tort practice in asbestos, pharmaceutical, and environmental litigation. Operates on contingency, targets similar corporate defendants, and competes for lead counsel roles in overlapping MDLs such as those involving medical devices and drugs.
• Berger Montague PC: Plaintiff complex litigation and class action firm with strong antitrust, consumer protection, and mass tort practices. Comparable in pursuing class actions and MDL leadership against large institutional defendants under contingency fee arrangements.
• Seeger Weiss LLP: Plaintiff mass tort and class action firm with pharmaceutical, medical device, and environmental practices. Operates on contingency and competes for the same bellwether and lead-counsel positions in MDLs that overlap KTB's active docket.
• Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd: One of the largest plaintiff securities and consumer class action firms in the U.S., with extensive mass tort and complex litigation practices. Highly comparable in targeting large corporate defendants via class action and MDL mechanisms, with a similar contingency-fee business model.
• Motley Rice: Major plaintiff mass tort and complex litigation firm known for asbestos, opioid, and environmental cases. Directly comparable contingency-fee model, similar MDL-lead role strategy, and overlapping practice areas in pharmaceutical and environmental mass torts.
• Napoli Shkolnik: Plaintiff mass tort and personal injury firm with active pharmaceutical, medical device, and Camp Lejeune practices overlapping directly with KTB's current docket. Competes for lead-counsel positions in similar MDLs on a contingency basis.

Emerging players

• Keller Postman LLC: Rapidly growing plaintiff mass tort and class action firm focused on pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer litigation. Operates on contingency with overlapping theory areas and competes for similar MDL leadership and referral-client pools, though at smaller scale than the largest incumbents.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ktblegal
• Facebookfacebook.com/kershawtalleybarlow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kershaw Talley Barlow