J. Joseph Barse
Sunday, May 21, 2006
J. Joseph Barse, 81, a longtime Washington lawyer, died May 13 of kidney failure at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md. He lived in Cambridge, Md.
Mr. Barse, whose first name was John, was a sixth-generation Washingtonian and a graduate of  Roosevelt High School. He was a 1944 graduate of Georgetown University and graduated from Georgetown's law school in 1948.
That year, he joined the Washington law firm of Welch, Daily and Welch. In 1967, he formed his own practice.
Mr. Barse was a trial lawyer who specialized in civil cases involving medical malpractice, product liability and wrongful death. He represented Washington Hospital Center and many other local hospitals, as well as insurance companies, the G.D. Searle & Co. pharmaceutical firm and Revlon Inc. as a defense attorney. He retired in the late 1990s after almost 50 years of practicing law.
Mr. Barse was a past president of the D.C. Bar and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
I do not know of any lawyer or judge who had a bad word to say about Joe Barse said his former legal associate, Robert E. Higdon. To walk away with his reputation unsullied in the practice of trial law is unheard of. He was a man of unique character and capability.
In his youth, Mr. Barse was an outstanding golfer. In 1942, he won the District junior golf championship and was a star golfer at Georgetown. He was a member of the Columbia Country Club and won the club championship in 1947.
Later, Mr. Barse became interested in offshore fishing. He had been a member of the Ocean City Light Tackle Club since 1961 and was club president and historian and wrote its newsletter.
Mr. Barse lived in Kensington before moving to Bethesda in the late 1950s. In 2004, he moved to Cambridge.
His marriage to Doris M. Barse ended in divorce.
Survivors include two children, Ann M. Barse of Cambridge and John J. Jack Barse Jr. of Washington; a brother, George R. Barse of Rockville; and two grandchildren.