 She was admitted to the State Bar of California in November 1978.In 1978 Barry founded Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that seeks to address "young people at risk of incarceration, grandparent caregivers, alternatives to incarceration for mothers and children, and improving medical care for women in prisons and jails".where she worked as director and managing attorney until 2001, when she left to work in private practice.