Founder, Barnett & Leuty, PC — Austin Co-Counsel for The Longhorn Law Firm
Jeff Barnett founded Barnett & Leuty, PC in 1995, and he's been practicing law in Austin ever since — through five economic cycles, two state-bar restructurings, and the transformation of Austin from a quiet capital town into one of the fastest-growing metros in the country. His firm focuses on the work Austin's business community depends on: transactional matters, entity formations, mergers and acquisitions, contracts, wills and trusts, estate planning, and probate. He's also a certified mediator, and a sought-after one — in family, business, and civil disputes alike.
Jeff is also the Austin Co-Counsel for The Longhorn Law Firm. When The Longhorn Law Firm handles injury cases for Austin clients, the firm's local office presence is at Barnett & Leuty's north Austin location on Jollyville Road. The arrangement mirrors the firm's San Antonio co-counsel relationship with Jonathan Perez: a respected local attorney providing the office, the relationships, and the on-the-ground presence in a key Texas market.
It's also a family arrangement. Jeff is the father of Shawn Barnett, The Longhorn Law Firm's founding and managing attorney. The two share UT Austin alumni status, a deep commitment to community service, a passion for endurance running, and — between them — over 45 marathons.
Jeff's path to founding his own Austin firm started in Iowa. At Drake University Law School, he was deeply engaged in the kind of student work that shapes how a lawyer thinks about the profession. He was active in the Student Bar Association, wrote for The Gavel, and took on leadership roles in multiple organizations — Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, the National Lawyers Guild, the Latino Law Society, the Black Law Students Association, and Drake Law Women. The pattern was set early: be present, take on responsibility, and build relationships across communities.
That commitment extended to direct service. While at Drake, Jeff practiced law in a clinic serving indigent and elderly low-income individuals — work that doesn't show up on a billing statement but shapes how a lawyer understands what legal services actually mean to people. He also volunteered for the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, taking on cases that needed advocates more than they needed billable hours.
Two Dean's Service Awards and two recognitions in Who's Who Among American Law Students later, Jeff returned to Texas — to Austin, his undergraduate city — and in 1995 founded what would become Barnett & Leuty, PC. Three decades on, the firm is a fixture of the north Austin legal community, handling the kind of careful, sustained business and civil practice that requires long client relationships and a reputation built over years.
That long Austin presence is exactly what made the Longhorn Law Firm's Austin co-counsel arrangement work. When Austin clients need a personal injury attorney, they get The Longhorn Law Firm's specialized practice — and they get to meet at an established Austin office with three decades of professional credibility behind it.
Jeff's Barnett & Leuty practice is focused on the legal needs of Austin businesses and the families connected to them. The day-to-day work covers:
Business law: Business transactional matters. Entity formations — LLCs, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships. Mergers and acquisitions. Contracts (drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and litigating disputes when they arise).
Estate planning & probate: Wills, trusts, and estate planning for individuals and families across the Austin area. Probate of estates. Trust administration. The careful work of making sure assets pass to the right people with the least friction possible.
Mediation: Jeff is a certified mediator, mediating family, business, and civil disputes. After 30 years of practice, his skill at finding workable middle ground is in demand — particularly for cases where the parties want resolution without the cost and time of trial.
This isn't a personal injury practice — it's an Austin business law and civil practice, and that's by design. The mix complements (rather than competes with) The Longhorn Law Firm's personal injury work, and the office space and relationships make for a natural Austin presence.
The Longhorn Law Firm doesn't operate its own standalone Austin office. Instead, it operates through a co-counsel arrangement with Jeff's firm — the same model the firm uses in San Antonio (where Jonathan Perez serves as Co-Counsel out of his own firm). When Austin clients meet with The Longhorn Law Firm for an injury consultation, that consultation takes place at:
Address: 11824 Jollyville Road, Suite 500
Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: (512) 881-4484
Service area: Austin metro — Travis, Williamson, and Hays Counties
The Jollyville Road office is conveniently located in north Austin, with easy access from MoPac (Loop 1), US-183, and the broader Northwest Hills / Arboretum corridor. Consultations are typically by appointment to ensure attorney availability.
For Austin-area injury cases, expect this workflow:
Like his son Shawn, Jeff is a serious runner. The numbers say it best: 35+ marathons completed across more than 15 states. His goals: a marathon in all 50 states, and eventually a marathon on all 7 continents.
That kind of long-arc goal-setting shapes how Jeff approaches everything — clients, cases, mentorship. You don't run 35 marathons by accident. You commit, you train, you show up on race day, and you do it again. Most lawyers (and most people) don't have that kind of staying power. Jeff does.
He's also coached others into the discipline. Jeff has served as Marathon Coach and Summer Training Program Director for Austin Fit (USA Fit Austin) — the largest training program in the country for adults preparing for their first marathon — and as a Marathon Coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training, helping participants raise money for blood-cancer research while training for marathons. Team In Training has raised over $1.6 billion for blood cancer research since its founding; Jeff has been part of that effort for years.
The Barnett family running passion isn't accidental. Shawn grew up watching Jeff train, race, and coach — and built his own running practice (Running Down a Dream, Dreamers Run Club, Dreamwell) on a foundation that's distinctly familial.
Three decades of Austin practice builds relationships, and Jeff is actively engaged across the city's professional and legal organizations:
Jeff also actively participates in student mock-trial events and law-related educational efforts throughout the region — helping students from elementary school through college to better understand the legal system. He's been doing this work for years, and it reflects the same conviction that drove his Drake clinic and civil rights project work decades ago: a lawyer's responsibilities extend beyond billable hours.
With Jeff's Austin co-counsel arrangement in place, The Longhorn Law Firm now has three Texas-NM offices covering its full service area:
The model works because it pairs the firm's specialized personal injury practice (Shawn) with established local attorneys in each Texas market who provide office space, local credibility, and on-the-ground presence. Clients get the depth of a specialized PI practice and the convenience of a local Austin or SA office — without the rotating-cast feel of bigger firms.
The Longhorn Law Firm's Austin office is now open at Barnett & Leuty on Jollyville Road. Free consultation, no fee unless we win, and a local meeting location with three decades of Austin credibility behind it.
