Kenneth S. Canfield

Ken Canfield founded the firm in 1990 along with Bob Shields and Everette Doffermyre. He is currently active in all areas of the firm's practice.

Mr. Canfield was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1952 and grew up in the Philadelphia area and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He received his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College, summa cum laude, and legal education at Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

After finishing law school in 1977, Mr. Canfield became a law clerk to the Honorable Frank M. Johnson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.  He next served in the administration of President Carter as a Special Assistant to the head of the Civil Division in the Justice Department and as a Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

From 1981 through 1985, Mr. Canfield practiced law in Denver, Colorado with the firm of Haddon, Morgan & Foreman.  He then joined the Atlanta firm now known as Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. In 1988, he became a solo practitioner until founding Doffermyre Shields Canfield Knowles & Devine.

The major focus of Mr. Canfield's practice is complex civil litigation, particularly class actions, personal injury cases, and business disputes. He has been appointed as lead counsel or a member of plaintiffs' steering committees in class actions and federal multi-district litigation proceedings involving a wide range of subject areas, including ERISA, RICO, products liability, consumer fraud, and insurance practices.  He has also represented plaintiffs in numerous constitutional, civil rights, and election cases. Among other current cases, Mr. Canfield serves as co-lead counsel in both the Equifax and Home Depot data breach multi-district cases.

In April, 1999, Mr. Canfield was appointed by the state's governor to the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission, which screens applicants for state judgeships. He served until January, 2003. He has also sat on  committees responsible for screening applicants to the federal bench.

Mr. Canfield is recognized in publications such as Best Lawyers in America and U.S. News and World Report,  has been named a "Georgia Superlawyer" by Atlanta Magazine, and is listed in the Chambers USA guide to "America's leading lawyers for business."   According to Chambers USA: "Kenneth Canfield is revered as a 'brilliant litigator,' particularly in relation to his work on complex class actions." The 2018 edition of the guide reports that Mr. Canfield is seen as "the premier plaintiff lawyer in the Atlanta market."

Mr. Canfield is a past president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, a past director of the Atlanta College of Trial Advocacy, a past member of the executive committee of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, and a contributing author of the Georgia Trial Practice Manual.  He is a frequent lecturer on legal topics.  Among other forums, he has spoken before the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.  He is a Master of the Lumpkin Inn of Court.