Honors & Awards
- Kentucky Super Lawyers®, 2023 (Civil Litigation: Defense)
- Kentucky Super Lawyers®, 2019-2022 (Insurance Coverage)
- The Best Lawyers in America®, 2013-2025 (Insurance Law, Litigation - Insurance)
- A. M. Best Client Recommended, 2018
- 20 People to Know in Law - Louisville Business First, April 17, 2015
- Best Lawyer - Louisville Magazine, March 2015
- Joined U.S. Congressman Yarmuth in Introducing Combating Autism Through Education Bill, 2008
- 2nd Most Prolific Trial Attorney in KY, recognized by Kentucky Civil Jury Trial Reporter, 2006
Admissions
Kentucky, 1990
U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky, 1991
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky, 1991
U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana, 2000
U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1992
U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 2000
U.S. Supreme Court, 1994
Education
University of Kentucky College of Law, Lexington, Kentucky, J.D., 1990
Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, B.A., 1987
Overview
Rob Watson is a problem-solver. Every matter he handles for his clients presents a unique challenge, and he makes it his mission to resolve it as efficiently and thoroughly as possible. Though Rob is a litigation attorney, he values helping clients to avoid the courtroom when possible by taking preventative legal steps and carefully considering all the potential strategies for untangling a particular legal knot.
Rob’s practice is a diverse one, and the types of matters he handles for his clints are myriad. He has litigated a wide range of commercial claims, including tortious interference with a contract; fraud, nondisclosure and misrepresentation; false advertising and deceptive trade practices; breach of contract; breach of fiduciary duty; breach of express or implied warranty and antitrust litigation. In addition to his litigation practice, he also advises the firm's corporate clients with respect to complex corporate, employee, residential and commercial real estate transactions, landlord/tenant and lease matters.
Rob’s experience in governmental entity defense includes defense of local governments, governmental agencies, and officials in connection with claims brought under both state and federal law. These claims include Section 1983 claims, negligence claims, and state constitutional claims such as alleged deliberate indifference to medical needs, excessive force, wrongful termination, and abuse of process, among other claims unique to city and county governments.
Outside of the office, Rob is very involved in the Louisville community through board involvement and service. He has always considered it a civic duty to give back to the community that has given so much to him and his family, including his law firm. He has held many leadership positions in community organizations, including the Louisville Better Business Bureau (Board Member), Anchorage Civic Club (Board Member), Anchorage Independent Board of Education (Chair), Greater Louisville Inc. (Economic Development Policy Committee), Seven Counties Services (FKA, Vice-Chair, Member of Finance and Nominating and Governance Committees), and Carriage House Educational Services and Preschool (Board Chair). Rob is also active with he Kentucky Bar Association, having previously served on the KBA Committee for Closed and Abandoned Practices and KY Bar Association Attorney Advertising Commission where he served as Committee chair.
Additional Practice Experience
News & Insights
News
- August 15, 2024
- January 9, 2024
- August 17, 2023
- December 29, 2022
- August 18, 2022
- December 30, 2021
- August 19, 2021
- Super Lawyers, December 10, 2020
- August 20, 2020
- Super Lawyers, December 2, 2019
- U.S. News – Best Lawyers® in America, September 4, 2019
- July 1, 2019
- December 19, 2018
- October 10, 2017
- Attorneys from McBrayer law offices in Lexington and Louisville achieved a 2018 listing in U.S. News Best Lawyers in AmericaAugust 15, 2017
Seminars & Speaking Engagements
- Ethics Update for Legal ProfessionsLouisville, Kentucky, June 1, 2015
Articles
- Louisville Bar Association, January 1, 2016
- How Social Meida Affects Jury SelectionDRI - For the Defense National Magazine/Trial Tactics Division, October 1, 2015
- Contributing Author, Inside The Minds - Representing Municipalities in Litigation, Thomas Reuters/Aspatore Books, 2013
Blogs
Blog Posts
- Why Choose a Business Entity? August 1, 2019
- Five Legal Considerations for Starting a Small Business: Which Type of Entity is Best? August 30, 2017
- Small Business Law Every Business Owner Needs to Know April 26, 2017
- Supreme Court Upholds Strict Diversity of Citizenship of Non-Corporate Entities for Diversity Jurisdiction April 25, 2016
Corporate Law Blog
Multimedia
Multimedia
- Our Clients - ARGI
- Kentucky Leader - Robert T. Watson - Anchorage Public School
Professional Activities
- Louisville Better Business Bureau, Board Member, 2023-Present
- Kentucky Bar Association, Attorney Advertising Commission, 2014-Present
- Kentucky Bar Association, Task Force on Abandoned and Closed Practices, 2014-Present
- Louisville Economic Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors, 2013-2014
- Greater Louisville Inc., Economic Development Policy Committee, 2011-Present
- Kentucky Bar Association, Member, 1999-Present
- Louisville Bar Association, Litigation Section, Chair, 1999
- American Bar Association, Member, 1999-Present
- Defense Research Institute, Governmental Liability Section, Member, 2000-Present
- Kentucky Bar Association, Chair of the Attorney Advertising Commission