Jackson B. Barnett
Principal Attorney
Jackson B. Barnett is the Principal Attorney of Barnett Law Offices.
Mr. Barnett primarily represents pilots with a history of alcohol use or other psychiatric history seeking airman medical certificates from the Federal Aviation Administration. His practice does extend to a wide variety of other medical histories. In early 2025, Mr. Barnett led a medical certificate denial case at the NTSB that resulted in an airline pilot receiving a medical certificate for a condition which the FAA has never issued a medical certificate before.
Early attorney involvement in medical certification helps pilots understand their ability to exercise their current medical certificate and submit appropriate medical evidence—creating a strong agency record for the pilot in the event the matter is to be taken to a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Barnett also represents airman who are the subject of FAA enforcement actions for alleged falsification of documents, such as a medical certificate. Some of Mr. Barnett’s clients who have been the subject of enforcement actions for alleged falsification of a medical certificate have had no action against their FAR Part 61 certificates or no issue of an enforcement action at all.
Mr. Barnett holds a private pilot certificate with complex and high-performance endorsements. And, before earning his private pilot certificate, Mr. Barnett flew gliders. In fact, he soloed at the minimum legal age of 14.
Mr. Barnett is an active member in aviation law-related organizations, including the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and the Chicago Bar Association Aviation Law Committee, where he serves as the Chair.
Mr. Barnett has served as a law clerk for the Department of Justice: Aviation, Space and Admiralty Section, where he analyzed the facts and legal issues of wrongful death claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). Additionally, Mr. Barnett worked at the leading large law firm for commercial aircraft transactions and finance. While in this role, Mr. Barnett reviewed and drafted aircraft Sales Purchase Agreements and completed aircraft closings on aircraft such as E-170s, E-175s, 737s, and 747s.
Mr. Barnett graduated with a juris doctor from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, one of the top law schools in the United States. At Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Mr. Barnett studied trial practicum directly under an active judge and top trial attorneys. Mr. Barnett also studied labor and employment law, an area of law that impacts pilots’ lives daily, under one of the leading professors of the field.
Prior to law school, Mr. Barnett graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with majors in Russian and Political Science. While at the University of Illinois, Mr. Barnett was awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for his studies of the Russian language. FLAS is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and funds meritorious students who study modern foreign languages. As a FLAS fellow, Mr. Barnett had the opportunity to spend a summer studying Russian in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Mr. Barnett is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Ohio, and practices Federal Aviation Administration law across the country.
Education
- Washington University in St. Louis, Juris Doctor
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Literature; Political Science, magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
- Ohio
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Aviation Licenses
- Private Pilot, Airplane Single Engine Land, Complex Airplane Endorsement, High Performance Endorsement
