Metro Birmingham Living
peace Finding
The reclaimed life of Beth Holloway
Your Kitchen’s in LucK
st. Patty’s recipes
Je suis charLie
Samantha Dubrinsky explores terror in the city of Light
at War With BoBBY BoWDen
the legendary coach considers World War ii
You’ve Got a FrienD
30 years of aiDs outreach
hot & hot b-metro.com
125
the iconic restaurant celebrates 20 years Beth Holloway
Stars of the Bar Lawyers and Attorneys of Note
A survey of local attorneys reveals the names and faces that you should know. Portraits by Beau Gustafson
126
b-metro.com
What is a lawyer? Maybe you’d think it’s just someone who deals with the law, but
the official Webster definition is this: “a person whose job is to guide and assist people in matters relating to the law.” Lawyers aren’t just people with knowledge and understanding of the law and its applications; they are guides, people there to assist us when we’re unable to wade through such matters on our own. Many of us turn to lawyers in times of upheaval—divorce, injury, wrongdoing—and trust them to walk us safely to the other side. The lawyers noted in the following pages have been chosen because of their unrelenting pursuit of justice and their ability to guide their clients. Find here the Stars of the Bars, lawyers whom you can call when you need someone to turn to, as well as Lifetime Achievers, those men and women who have contributed great things to the law profession during their exceptional careers. We also include notable Judges, who are charged with the determination of justice, and these men and women take that charge seriously. These are the people of Birmingham who guide and assist us in matters relating to the law—and for that, we honor them.
Russell Q. Allison
Lee Benton
Carr Allison
Benton & Centeno, LLP
Allison is a founding shareholder of Carr Allison, where he advises and represents clients in a broad range of businesses, with an emphasis on clients in the insurance industry. Carr Allison serves the legal defense needs of businesses.
Benton works in the practice areas of business litigation, bankruptcy, secured transactions, and workouts. Located in the historic Gilbreath Building in downtown Birmingham, the law firm of Benton & Centeno handles business litigation matters in all courts, with emphasis on bankruptcy and construction cases.
Leon Ashford Hare Wynn Newell & Newton
Ashford has been a trial lawyer for 40 years. Throughout the course of his career, Ashford has a proven record of consistently obtaining multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and settlements for his clients, their families, and their small businesses. Though he has always focused his practice on complex litigation involving catastrophic personal injuries and wrongful death, he has recently been called upon to represent family-owned and closely held businesses in litigation.
H. Hampton Boles
Mike Atchison
Jones Walker
Burr & Forman, LLP
Atchison’s civil trial litigation experience includes securities class actions, commercial and business disputes, medical malpractice defense, products liability, aviation accidents and crashes, pharmaceutical products, employment discrimination, and professional negligence.
Lanier Brown
Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart, LLP
Brown’s practice consists of the defense of civil actions against nursing home operators and other health care providers, motor vehicle and other product manufacturers, construction firms, engineering firms, restaurant and hospitality operators, insurers, and personal injury defendants. He also represents parties in commercial litigation and business disputes.
Balch & Bingham, LLP
William J. Bryant
Boles is a partner of Balch & Bingham LLP, serving as general counsel to the Alabama Bankers Association and to the Birmingham Automobile Dealers Association. His practice consists primarily of advising banks and other creditors, insurance companies, and real estate developers in corporate, financial, and regulatory matters.
Bryant’s focus is on real estate and estate planning practice, covering a broad spectrum ranging from the purchase and sale of ownermanaged businesses to complex financing transactions for governmental entities involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
Emily Bonds Bonds has represented clients in a wide array of commercial litigation, including professional liability litigation (agents and brokers, directors and officers, and other professionals), products liability, mass torts, class action litigation, banking and financial services litigation, and coverage litigation.
Dominick Feld Hyde, P.C.
Angela Cameron Burr & Forman, LLC
Cameron is a member of the firm’s health care section, defending physicians and other health care providers in medical malpractice claims as well as the defense of corporate clients in general litigation matters. She assists health care providers with navigating federal and state laws directly impacting the health care industry.
b-metro.com
127
Lee Benton
Benton & Centeno, LLP
Emily Bonds Jones Walker
Andy Campbell
Campbell, Guin, Williams, Guy & Gidiere, LLC
Campbell is the managing partner of the firm and the chair of the Litigation Section. In a diverse litigation career that has spanned more than 30 years, he has handled hundreds of both plaintiff and defense cases involving shareholder disputes and litigation, securities and derivative litigation, class 128
b-metro.com
H. Hampton Boles Balch & Bingham, LLP
Andy Campbell
Campbell, Guin, Williams, Guy & Gidiere, LLC
actions, trust and estate litigation, will contests, and fiduciary duty claims. Matt Conn
Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling, P.C.
Conn’s practice primarily involves the representation of businesses and individuals in a variety of civil matters in state and federal
courts. Conn has experience in business disputes, environmental litigation, insurance coverage, and the representation of blasting contractors. Ernie Cory Cory Watson
Cory is a founding shareholder of Cory Watson, P.C. The firm has recovered more than
Pursuing Justice One case at a time. We give each client the PersOnalized attentiOn his Or her case deserves.
David Marsh, Founder
800 Shades Creek Parkway • Birmingham, Al 35209 • 205-879-1981
www.mrblaw.com
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
PROMOTION
Class aCtions, PharmaCeutiCal, Personal injury, environmental litigation
1,500,000,000 25,000 280 49 14
$
in verdicts and settlements for our clients
total number of years our attorneys have practiced law
Represented clients in forty-nine U.S. states
1
#
Clients successfully represented in the past twenty years
Commitment: our clients.
attorneys elected to super lawyers®
Cory Watson, P.C.
2131 Magnolia Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35205 • 205 - 328- 2200
CoryWatson.com Kirk Drennan, PC
Facebook.com/CoryWatsonAttorneys • Twitter @CoryWatsonLaw
These recoveries and testimonials are not an indication of future results. Every case is different, and regardless of what friends, family, or other individuals may say about what a case is worth, each case must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances as they apply to the law. The valuation of a case depends on the facts, the injuries, the jurisdiction, the venue, the witnesses, the parties, and the testimony, among other factors. Furthermore, no representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
William J. Bryant
Dominick Feld Hyde, P. C.
Lanier Brown
132
b-metro.com
Burr & Forman, LLC
Matt Conn
Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart, LLP
$1.5 billion on behalf of its clients worldwide. Cory has practiced law for more than 30 years and has devoted his practice almost exclusively to mass torts, class actions, and complex litigation involving defective medical devices, pharmaceutical drugs, and environmental toxins. He is recognized nationally for his role in landmark pharmaceutical and defective medical device litigation. Cory
Angela Cameron
Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling, P.C.
and his wife, Vivian, have five children. Patrick Darby
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP
Darby represents debtors and creditors in business reorganizations, bankruptcies, workouts, and out-of-court debt restructurings. He has almost 25 years of experience
in corporate cases under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and related litigation. Augusta Dowd White Arnold & Dowd, P.C.
Dowd has more than 25 years of experience as a trial lawyer primarily in civil and complex litigation and white collar criminal defense. She represents both plaintiffs and
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Trucking & Auto Accidents Catastrophic Personal Injury Wrongful Death Nursing Home Negligence Products Liability Alcohol Related Injuries Auto Defects & Designs Bad Faith Insurance Premise Liability FELA FLSA Collective Actions
Farris, Riley & Pitt has attracted attorneys with a broad array of talent and experience. Each member of our firm shares a common belief that through the practice of law we can serve and protect the rights of our clients by employing a proactive and aggressive litigation standard while striving to meet the individual needs of those we represent. It is our goal to help deliver justice to those who have been wronged in a fair, honest and ethical way. In addition to representing injured clients, our firm is committed to being a legal resource to our community. We have partnered with Fox 6 WBRC to provide LawCall, which airs on Sunday nights at 10:30 p.m. LawCall features guest attorneys from across the state, and allows area viewers the opportunity to ask a wide range of legal questions to a live attorney.
FARRIS, RILEY & PITT, L.L.P. The Financial Center • 505 20th Street North, Suite 1700, Birmingham, AL 35203 205.324.1212 or 888.580.5176 • Birmingham | Mobile
DeliveringJustice.com No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
Ernie Cory
Cory Watson
Jessica Kirk Drennan Kirk.Drennan Law
defendants in a broad spectrum of cases including business, civil, class action, complex litigation, personal injury, mass tort, pharmaceutical, environmental tort actions, whistleblower, and regulatory matters. Jessica Kirk Drennan Kirk.Drennan Law
Drennan, a native of Alabama and founder
Augusta Dowd
White Arnold & Dowd, P.C.
Anne Durward
Massey, Stotser & Nichols, P.C.
of Kirk.Drennan, P.C., has served as an advocate for families since 1996 in the areas of family, matrimonial, and adoption law. She has considerable experience in complex litigation involving cases with high-asset marital estates and controversial custody questions. She is the author of Divorce in Alabama.
Anne Durward Massey, Stotser & Nichols, P.C.
Durward practices in the areas of divorce, family law, adoptions, probate, estate planning, civil litigation, custody disputes, paternity actions, grandparents’ visitation, guardian, and conservatorships. She has been a coach of the National Moot Court Team with Cumberland School of Law.
OUT I N F R O N T
Congratulations! M. Ann Huckstep B-Metro’s Top Flight Lawyers 2015 Lifetime Achiever
Giles Perkins B-Metro’s Top Flight Lawyers 2015 Star of the Bar Adams and Reese is a multidisciplinary, regional law firm with nearly 300 attorneys and advisors strategically located in 16 offices across 15 markets. Providing legal services on a regional, national and international level, Adams and Reese represents clients in all industry segments. American Lawyer once again named Adams and Reese to its list of the nation’s top 200 law firms - “The Am Law 200.” The National Law Journal also lists the firm on the “NLJ 350” of the nation’s largest law firms.
www.adamsandreese.com
ALABAMA | FLORIDA | LOUISIANA | MISSISSIPPI | SOUTH CAROLINA TENNESSEE | TEXAS | WASHINGTON, DC Regions Harbert Plaza | 1901 6th Avenue North, Suite 3000 | Birmingham, Alabama 35203 | 205.250.5000 No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of the legal services performed by other lawyers. FREE BACKGROUND INFORMATION AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. Contact: Charles P. Adams, Jr.
PROMOTION
Raising the Bar We caught up with one of our Stars of the Bar, family law specialist Jennifer Rose of The Rose Law Firm LLC, to pick her brain on what it means to be a modern day lawyer. Q: What made you decide to get into law, particularly family law? Jennifer: My parent’s divorce when I was a teenager made me realize the impact of divorce, especially on my three younger sisters who leaned on me pretty heavily as almost a surrogate mother. The idea that I could help a family at their worst point just stuck with me, and it felt natural because I knew where they were coming from. It’s extremely rewarding when you’re able to help someone get out of an unhealthy relationship or protect a child from a bad situation, those are the cases that make it really worthwhile. Q: What is a typical day like for a lawyer? Jennifer: Typical? (laughs) There isn’t really a typical day for lawyers. It’s not a go to work, do your job, clock out and forget about it kind of job. Most good attorneys that I know spend lots of evenings working, prepping for trial, reviewing case law for strategies, answering emails, that sort of thing. I can’t really remember the last time I went to bed before midnight or one unless I had a trial or something of the like early the next morning. Even then, sometimes it’s hard to get to sleep because the client’s cases are on your mind.
Q: So lawyers really lose sleep over cases? Jennifer: Absolutely. It’s not hard to do if you really care about what happens to your clients, which I think most good lawyers do. Being entrusted with protecting someone’s children, their livelihood, or the future of their family isn’t something to take lightly. That’s not to say we don’t have personal lives or that we’re obsessing over cases all day and night, but they’re always in the back of your mind. The long hours and late nights are something
they don’t generally show on TV or movies about attorneys. Q: What do people outside the profession get wrong ? Jennifer: They think that we’re not normal people like everyone else. People have this expectation of what a lawyer is supposed to look like, act like and talk like. I meet people outside of work all the time that say, “you’re a lawyer? But you’re nice, I never would have guessed” once they find out what I do. The truth is that most lawyers are decent people with a good sense of humor, but we have to be serious when we’re working because the margin for error in our field is so small. You ever see a firefighter rush into a burning building cracking jokes? Me either. Catch us after hours sometime though and you might be surprised how fun we are to be around. Q: What do you feel has changed the most about law in the last decade? Jennifer: I’d say technology has changed the law and how we practice it tremendously. Before social media it was often tough proving certain things without a private investigator, but now people incriminate themselves right there on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In some cases it’s not even about new technology so much as lawyers and judges embracing established technology. For example, a few years ago you would have a hard time getting a judge to allow witness testimony through video chat for someone who couldn’t be at court, but now I’ve convinced a number of judges to allow it, many admitting it was a first for them. And don’t even get me started on how nice it is that even the most set in their ways, old school lawyers are finally starting to realize email is a thing. Q: What is one thing as a lawyer you can’t live with-
PROMOTION
out? Jennifer: My smartphone. When I started practicing they weren’t even really around, especially the way we know them now. People didn’t have apps or anything that helped them other than maybe simple email like on blackberry. Now I can easily communicate with my clients in multiple ways when I’m on the go, edit docs, review orders and work on my to do list all from the line at the grocery store, if need be. Sometimes I’m really lucky and my phone can even understand my southern accent enough to take dictation. (laughs)
About Jennifer Rose:
Jennifer G. Rose is a certified family law specialist and founder of The Rose Law Firm LLC, a legal practice devoted entirely to family law. Among her awards, she has been named by peers “Top Family Law Attorney” in Birmingham Magazine in 2013 & 2014, “Top 40 under 40” by the National Trial Lawyers, and “Best Attorneys of America” from Rue Ratings. She gives free initial consultations in her Birmingham office and can be reached at 205-323-1124 or online at www. rosefamilylaw.com
Q: So why do you feel your firm has been successful? Jennifer: Passion. Look, anyone with a law degree can practice law, but to do it well you really have to have a passion for what you’re doing. If you can’t get amped up to help the people in the field you’re in, you might as well be running an ice cream stand, because you aren’t going to do a good job for your clients. I’m very lucky in that I’ve been able to find a smart group of people who are passionate about the same type of law as myself. They put 110% into our client’s cases and it makes a huge difference. It’s always an honor to be recognized by our peers with these awards, but knowing that our firm is doing good work and making clients happy is really the best kind of reward. It’s pretty simple, doing good work makes clients happy and if clients are happy then the firm succeeds, everybody wins.
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
G. Courtney French
Fuston, Petway & French, LLP
David Marsh
Marsh, Rickard & Bryan
Jeff Friedman
Alicia K. Haynes
Jonathan Macklem
Joseph B. Mays Jr.
Hobart McWhorter
Edward P . Meyerson
Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling, P.C.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
G. Daniel “Danny” Evans The Evans Law Firm, P.C.
Evans is a Martindale Hubbell AV-rated attorney with more than 30 years of experience practicing law. Evans began private practice in Birmingham in 1978, and in 1992, formed The Evans Law Firm P.C., which handles complex litigation matters, including class actions, professional negligence, medical malpractice, consumer actions, insurance fraud, business litigation, and personal injury. Sam Franklin Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLP
During his 40 years of practice, Franklin has handled jury trials in many different areas, ranging from personal injury/wrongful death to complex business disputes. Franklin is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and an advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates. G. Courtney French Fuston, Petway & French, LLP
French is a founding partner of the law firm of Fuston, Petway & French, LLP, in Birmingham. He has devoted his entire legal career to representing individuals and families who have suffered serious personal injuries or wrongful death. French has been named an Alabama Super Lawyer and Alabama Top Attorney, among other honors. French is a 138
b-metro.com
Christian & Small
Haynes & Haynes, P.C.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP
graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and serves on the board of numerous civic and nonprofit organizations. He is married to the Honorable Elisabeth French, Circuit Court Judge of Jefferson County. Karl Friedman Sirote & Permutt
Friedman is a senior member of Sirote and is involved in structuring financial, real estate, personal property, and other types of funding transactions as well as estate planning and administration. He previously served as an organizing director of the American National Bank of Birmingham and as a special assistant to the attorney general of Alabama. Jeff Friedman
Friedman, Dazzio, Zulanas & Bowling, P.C.
Friedman has represented municipal governments and businesses as plaintiffs. Since the inception of this firm, Friedman has obtained substantial settlements and judgments and twice was recognized by The National Law Journal in the top 100 verdicts in America (2001 and 2004). In his 29 years of trial practice, Friedman has been lead counsel in some of the most substantial environmental cases in the country.
Baker Donelson
Honora Gathings Gathings Law
A founding partner in Gathings Law, Gathings has been involved in complex litigation, including business tort litigation, toxic, environmental, and pharmaceutical tort litigation, serious personal injury, consumer class actions, products liability, fraud, and international law. Alicia K. Haynes Haynes & Haynes, P.C.
Haynes practices in the area of plaintiff employment law. She has had two separate cases heard before the United States Supreme Court, which resulted in favorable and per curiam opinions. One case, Ash, Hithon v. Tyson, significantly changed the standard in employment discrimination cases involving promotion decisions. Greg Hawley
Jones & Hawley, P.C.
Hawley is a veteran litigator, having represented defendants in numerous environmental tort, products liability, and mass tort class actions. He has represented companies in class actions and individual actions involving soil and groundwater contamination, and other products liability and consumer fraud class actions.
The best thing for your resume since spellcheck. An online LL.M. concentration in Taxation or Business Transactions from The University of Alabama School of Law allows you to earn an advanced degree while working full-time. Enrolling in this program demonstrates that you understand the value of live classes made available in a collaborative, online environment and accessible from anywhere in the world. Earning this degree proves that you received skills-based training from respected professors and practitioners throughout the country, and that you are prepared to be a leader in your field. Visit AlabamaLLM.ua.edu/toplawyer to learn more.
Online LL.M. degree programs Tax and Business Law Concentrations
... .. .
LL.M . AL A BA M A The University of Alabama S c h o o l o f L aw
AlabamaLLM.ua.edu/toplawyer
Kevin Newsome
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP
Ken Riley
Farris, Riley and Pitt
Nolan Byers, PC
Adams and Reese LLP
Giles Perkins
Barry Ragsdale
Jennifer G. Rose
Don Siegel
Deborah Alley Smith
Frances Nolan
Leitman Siegel & Payne, PC
The Rose Law Firm, LLC
Richard S. Jaffe Cohen & Jaffe, LLP
As a partner, Jaffe continues to practice in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, employment law, insurance law, products liability, lead paint poisoning, and municipal liability. Jaffe has represented thousands of
Sirote & Permutt
victims of car accidents, medical malpractice, and other types of negligence cases. Jonathan Macklem Christian & Small
Macklem is an experienced corporate attorney who represents and advises clients on
Christian & Small
a broad range of legal matters, representing businesses and professionals in litigation in Alabama and across the Southeast. He regularly defends clients in complex contractual and business tort proceedings involving director/officer liability issues, shareholder disagreements, and franchise disputes.
topflightattorneys W. Barry Alvis and Lara M. Alvis have combined over 45 years of experience in practicing law and tried over 100 jury trials. The firm specializes in Criminal Defense and Juvenile Family Law, and Appellate and Post-Trial litigation. The firm has an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and was ranked in the First Tier of the Best Law Firms in the State of Alabama in U.S. News and World Report. Both Barry and Lara are in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers and have coauthored a handbook entitled, “The Legality of Firearms”. W. Barry Alvis has tried crimi-
nal jury trials for over 30 years with an emphasis on capital murder, firearms, child abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, and expungements. He was appointed as a Special Circuit Judge and has been an adjunct professor at Birmingham School of Law. Lara M. Alvis was an Assistant District Attorney in Shelby County and served as a judicial clerk on the Court of Criminal Appeals. She currently serves as President of the Shelby County Bar Association and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law.
Alvis and Alvis, LLC 2450 Valleydale Road • Birmingham, Alabama 35244 • (205) 444-4773
www.alvisandalvis.com
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
140
b-metro.com
Winning Never Gets Old Celebrating 125 Years of Legal Excellence
Ashley Peinhardt
“I am proud of the hard work and experience our team of lawyers and professionals bring to the table.”
Sabrina Cunningham
Don McKenna
Leon Ashford, Managing Partner
BIRM ING H A M
|
LITTLE ROCK
|
FA Y ETTEVILLE
|
LEXIN GTO N
#HW NN125
Lawyers Helping People We keep it simple—we hire good people, and we work hard all of the time. We go the extra mile, we call people back, and we listen. We get it done, day in and day out—we work together, and we like to win. With 125 years of experience, we are one of the region’s oldest law firms. At the end of the day, helping people is what we are all about.
Lawyers Helping People—Since 1890
HelpingAlabama.com
No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
Tommy Spina
Michael Vercher
James S. Williams
Josh Wright
Criminal Defense Attorney
Sirote & Permutt, PC
David Marsh Marsh, Rickard & Bryan
Marsh, the founding partner in the law firm of Marsh, Rickard & Bryan, has been practicing law for more than 20 years and has handled more than 150 wrongful death cases during this time. He won his first milliondollar-plus verdict at the age of 26. Since then, he has obtained more than 100 verdicts or settlements in excess of $1 million. 142
b-metro.com
Christian & Small
Hollis, Wright, Clay, & Vail, PC
Joseph B. Mays Jr.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
Mays’s practice is concentrated on business litigation, especially antitrust, securities and shareholder litigation, government procurement fraud litigation, professional liability, and white collar criminal defense. He has extensive experience in representing major accounting firms. His cases in that area have
extended to both tax and audit issues as well as claims involving alleged securities fraud. Hobart McWhorter
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP
McWhorter’s litigation practice covers a broad range of complex litigation in both state and federal courts. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
1130 22nd Street South • Ridge Park, Suite 4000 • Birmingham, AL 35205 • 205.536-8888
www.dfhlaw.com No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
cases, including derivative and class action. His trial experience includes securities fraud, construction, environmental, products liability, personal injury, F.E.L.A., insurance defense, and commercial litigation. Edward P . Meyerson Baker Donelson
Meyerson, shareholder in the Birmingham office, concentrates his practice in the areas of construction law, litigation, and mediation and arbitration. He has served on the board of directors of the American College of Construction Lawyers and as an adjunct professor in construction law at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. John Morrow
a partner in the Adams and Reese Birmingham office. Perkins works at the intersection of government and business. He understands the language of both and shepherds clients through litigation, regulation, public finance, legislation, and administrative concerns.
business torts, and insurance. He is regularly engaged to mediate and arbitrate disputes. His years of service to the Birmingham Bar Association include time spent as president, member of the executive committee, and chairman of the grievance committee.
Harlan I. Prater IV
The Rose Law Firm, LLC
Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLP
Rose is a certified family law specialist, practicing family law such as divorce, custody, adoption, and asset division exclusively. In addition to this and other recognitions, she was voted a top family law attorney by her peers in 2013 and 2014. Rose is a member of the Alabama State Bar Family Law Chapter and the National Association of Council for Children. She is involved in multiple charities that focus on the needs of children such as Autism Speaks, The LoveLady Center, and Cure SMA.
Prater’s law practice has been devoted to all types of high-stakes civil trial work. Focusing on product liability and pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, Prater also has extensive experience in business litigation, including consumer fraud, antitrust, patent cases, and environmental litigation.
Burr & Forman, LLP
Barry Ragsdale
Morrow practices in the firm’s litigation and health care sections, with an emphasis on product liability and personal injury, commercial, and administrative law litigation. He handles personal injury and wrongful death cases for products manufacturers, and has experience defending heavy truck (tractor-trailer) crashworthiness, design defect, failure to warn, fleet warranty, and other claims.
Sirote & Permutt
Kevin Newsome
Ken Riley
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP
One of four firm lawyers to have clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court, Newsome is chair of the firm’s appellate group. Before joining the firm, Newsome served as Alabama’s Solicitor General, in which capacity he directed the State’s litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the Alabama Supreme Court. Frances Nolan Nolan Byers, PC
Nolan has practiced in the area of matrimonial and family law exclusively since 2005, founding Nolan Byers, PC, in March 2013. A certified collaborative lawyer and family law mediator, Frances cofounded and served as inaugural president of Alabama’s first collaborative practice group, Birmingham Collaborative Alliance. Giles Perkins Adams and Reese LLP
Perkins, a fourth generation lawyer, serves as
A litigator in our Birmingham office, Ragsdale recently returned to Sirote, where he began his legal career, after spending the last 15 years representing defendants and plaintiffs in anti-trust, securities, insurance, and business fraud cases. He also handles matters involving products liability, shareholder, and other complex litigation and class actions. Farris, Riley and Pitt
Riley has dedicated his law practice to helping injured victims obtain fair and just settlements and verdicts. Riley tailors his practice to not only focus on people involved in automobile accidents, but also those injured in boating accidents and child-related accidents, as well as victims of nursing home abuse. John Robbins John C. Robbins, Attorney at Law
Robbins has successfully defended clients across Alabama and Georgia. A past president of the Greater Birmingham Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, he is a recognized expert in criminal defense, handling numerous high-profile cases. Bruce F . Rogers
Bainbridge, Mims, Rogers & Smith, LLP
Rogers has extensive experience in such varied areas as shareholder and business litigation, complex estate and trust matters,
Jennifer G. Rose
Don Siegel Leitman Siegel & Payne, PC
Siegel is a partner in the firm with a range of specialties is extremely broad—covering litigation and arbitration in the areas of securities, anti-trusts, shareholder/partner disputes, trust and probate litigation, will contests, derivative suites, class actions, products liability, and election law. Kenneth O. Simon Christian & Small
Simon has more than 30 years experience as a judge and litigator. Simon has extensive experience in representing public agencies and their boards in contractual, litigation, employment, insurance, bond issuance, transactional, personnel law, and other matters. He also represents private parties in their dealings with governmental commissions and agencies. Deborah Alley Smith Christian & Small
Smith’s practice is post-judgment and appellate litigation. She devotes her time to research and writing and to preparing her Christian & Small partners for trial to ensure that significant issues are preserved in the event of an appeal. She is frequently enlisted to handle post judgment motions and appeals in cases tried by lawyers from other firms.
TOTAL YEARS OF RECOGNIZED EXCELLENCE IN
Tommy Spina Criminal Defense Attorney
Spina is a criminal defense lawyer in private practice. His practice is limited to criminal defense on a federal, state, and municipal court level at all stages of criminal proceedings including pre-indictment, trial, appeal, and post-conviction. Spina works cases throughout the United States. Michael Vercher Christian & Small
At Christian & Small, Vercher has handled a wide variety of cases ranging from general insurance defense matters to complex toxic tort and workplace exposure litigation. The law firm of Christian & Small represents a diverse clientele throughout Alabama, the Southeast, and across the nation. J. Mark White White Arnold & Dowd
White has more than 35 years of experience as a trial litigator in a number of matters that cover a spectrum of civil and criminal practice, including white collar crime, environ-
mental, mass tort, personal injury, antitrust, and securities litigation. He has been lead counsel in a number of high-profile trials, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. James S. Williams Sirote & Permutt, PC
Williams handles civil litigation, with a particular focus on life and disability insurance litigation, representation of banks and mortgage companies, construction litigation, shareholder and derivative lawsuits, and all forms of commercial litigation on behalf of individuals and businesses. Josh Wright Hollis, Wright, Clay, & Vail, PC
In 2002, attorneys Andrew Hollis and Wright joined together to form Hollis, Wright, Clay, & Vail, PC, a leading personal injury firm. Wright is a regular guest on talk shows and local television. He hosts a weekly television show on Sunday nights on NBC13 called The Attorneys.
Lifetime Achievers
William J. “Bill” Baxley
Baxley, Dillard, McKnight, James & McElroy
Baxley was elected attorney general of Alabama at age 28. Remarkably, he was already a seasoned prosecutor, having tried dozens of jury trials as district attorney in Houston and Henry counties. He served as Alabama’s attorney general from 1971 to 1979 and its lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1987. As attorney general, Baxley served as lead trial counsel in every major action on the State’s behalf, civil and criminal. He appointed the state’s first African-American assistant attorney general, who later became a federal judge. His successful prosecution of Ku Klux Klansman Robert Chambliss for the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church is featured in the Spike Lee documentary, 4 Little Girls. His legal accomplishments are also documented in Lay Down with Dogs, Until Justice Rolls Down, and
topflightattorneys Morris, Haynes, Wheeles, Knowles & Nelson specialize in representing individuals who have been injured or wronged in some way. For the past twenty four years, our firm has successfully handled cases for individuals against some of the most powerful corporations in the world. We take pride in ensuring that our clients have the best chance for a successful recovery by devoting the time and expense needed in each case. Morris, Haynes, Wheeles, Knowles & Nelson has historically handled trucking accidents, car wrecks, wrongful death cases, product defect cases, medical malpractice cases and insurance fraud cases. While we continue to handle these cases, we have recently successfully represented victims of Legionnaire’s Disease and victims of wrongful gun discharge. Please visit our Legionnaire’s website at www.legionnaireattorney.com and our firm website at www.mhhlaw.net for more information.
Morris, Haynes, Wheeles, Knowles & Nelson Attorneys at Law 3500 Colonnade Parkway, Suite 100 • Birmingham, Alabama 35243 • 205 - 324-4008 131 Main Street • Alexander City, Alabama 35010 • 256 - 329 - 2000
www.mhhlaw.net
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
146
b-metro.com
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
NOTABLE VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS: $26,000,000 Industrial Accident Case $22,714,000 Settlement in Defective Drug Cases $22,200,000 Settlement in Defective Drug Cases $20,000,000 Settlement in Defective Drug Cases $17,308,000 Commercial Arbitration Award $11,000,000 Class Action Settlement
$4,500,000 Injury and Death Settlement $3,766,000 Pool Drowning Verdict $3,500,000 Wrongful Death Verdict $3,000,000 Motorcycle Wreck Verdict $1,600,000 Defective Saw Verdict $1,450,000 Car Wreck Verdict
Hollis, Wright, Clay & Vail P.C 2201 Morris Avenue, Birmingham, AL 35203 (205) 324-3 600 or toll free (844) LAW-TALK
Watch on Sunday Nights
www.hollis-wright.com
(@hollis_wright)
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
PROMOTION
REPRESENTING CLIENTS ACROSS ALABAMA AND THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHEAST Wrongful Death · Motor Vehicle Accidents · Trucking Collisions · Products Liability Business Litigation · Workers’ Compensation · Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
G. Courtney French, Tanya Dillon, Amanda Reid, Christin French, Michael D. Petway, Renee Holsomback, Jennifer Willis, Trish Schollian, Roger K. Fuston
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
SERVING CLIENTS WITH SkILL AND COMPASSION Fuston, Petway & French was founded on the principles of experience, integrity, and commitment. Our legal team works tirelessly to ensure our clients receive the compensation they deserve while being treated with respect and care. We are dedicated to serving the individual needs of our clients.
ExPERIENCE Fuston, Petway & French attorneys have been recognized among The Top Trial Lawyers in America, Alabama Super Lawyers, The Top Attorneys in Alabama and Top 40 Lawyers Under 40. The attorneys are members of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of attorneys across the county who have received numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of their clients.
INTEGRITy Fuston Petway & French attorneys treat clients the way they would want their families to be treated under the same circumstances. They give their clients the respect, hard work, and attention they deserve, while personally assisting them every step of the way during their time of need.
COMMITMENT Fuston, Petway & French attorneys are committed advocates for their clients. Their passion in practicing law comes from serving as devoted advocates for individuals from all walks of life during their time of crisis. They are committed to our community and actively participate in numerous civic and non-profit organizations.
The Luckie Building • 600 Luckie Drive, Suite 300 • Birmingham, AL 35223 • (205) 977-9798
www.fpflaw.com No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
William J. “Bill” Baxley
Baxley, Dillard, McKnight, James & McElroy
J. Mason Davis
Sirote & Permutt, PC
Chervis Isom
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz
Ann Huckstep
Adams and Reese, LLP
numerous other publications. Chervis Isom
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz
Isom published a memoir in December 2013, titled The Newspaper Boy: Coming of Age in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Era, which tells of his journey out of the Jim Crow racism of his youth through a series of stories meant to explain to his grandchildren the times in which he grew up. Over a period of 10 years, those stories grew into a book that documents the evolution of his life as it intersected with those historical and social events that occurred during his youth. One of his short stories was published in The Louisville Review, Volume 75, Spring 2014, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Others have been published in The Birmingham Arts Journal. Isom grew up in Birmingham and attended its public schools. A graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, he has practiced law for 47 years in his native city with the firm of Berkowitz, Lefkovits, 150
b-metro.com
Frank M. Bainbridge
Thomas Christian Christian & Small
which merged in 2003 into Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz. Frank M. Bainbridge Bainbridge has been an attorney for more than 50 years. He graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1956, where he served as an editor of the Alabama Law Review. Bainbridge served as president of the Birmingham Bar Association in 1977 and president of the Young Lawyers Section of the Birmingham Bar Association in 1963. He is an acknowledged leader in the Birmingham law community, having served as lead counsel in seminal business dispute cases decided by the Alabama Supreme Court recognizing the rights of minority shareholders. He represented the appellant in the appeal of the case, which reversed the longstanding law in Alabama that the Circuit Court had no authority to provide by a divorce decree for a college education for the adult children of parties involved in divorce. In 1970, Bainbridge was appointed chairman of a joint special committee of the Alabama State Bar and Birmingham Bar Association Committee to investigate the conduct
The Honorable Helen Shores Lee
J. Scott Vowell
Vowell & Goldsmith, LLC
of two sitting Circuit Court Judges and four disbarred attorneys in connection with copies of what purported to be Alabama Court divorce decrees being sent to nonresidents when no divorce case had ever been filed. The investigation resulted in the indictment, arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of all six by the Federal Court in Birmingham, Alabama. Some 6,000 non-filed divorce files and decrees were uncovered in the investigation. The Honorable Helen Shores Lee
Circuit Judge, 10th Judicial Court of Alabama
The Honorable Lee was appointed Circuit Judge of the 10th Judicial Court of Alabama by Gov. Don Siegelman and assumed the bench in January 2003. Judge Lee became the first African-American woman to serve in the Civil Division of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. Prior to the practice of law, Judge Lee served as Magistrate for the city of Birmingham, Alabama (1986–1987). Judge Lee practiced law in the Birmingham community for
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
profile:
Jessie Keating Hardy
Associate at Kirk.Drennan Law •Senior in Alabama and Florida •Licensed Rising Star 2014 •MembershipAward, Chair, Central Alabama, Family Law Section •Co-Director, AnnualNorth Family Law Section CLE •·Member Junior League of Birmingham, Rotaract Club of Birmingham, and Family Law Section of the American Bar Association •
Kirk Drennan, PC (205) 803 - 3500
www.kirkdrennanlaw.com No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
more than 16 years with the firm of Shores and Lee until her judicial appointment in January 2003. She is a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles and her Juris Doctorate from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. Judge Lee has truly lived up to the legacy of her father, the late Arthur Shores, attorney and civic leader. He too was a pioneer because of his active involvement in many civil rights cases, including the integration of the University of Alabama as well as Brown vs. Board of Education. Judge Lee has dedicated her life to community service.
missions and has participated in numerous trials in both state and federal courts. His appellate practice includes matters before the Supreme Court of Alabama and the Fifth and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals. He was inducted into The Legion of Honor, Kiwanis Club of Birmingham in 2014 and received a Lifetime Achievement in Civil Rights from the NAACP in 2013. He has been honored by the Alabama Poverty Project, 2013, and Journey for Justice of the Birmingham Bar Foundation. He has served as chairman of the United Way of Central Alabama and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. He has also been inducted into the Alabama Lawyers Association Hall of Fame.
J. Mason Davis
Ann Huckstep
Sirote & Permutt, PC
Adams and Reese, LLP
Davis has a long, distinguished career representing clients in business, antitrust, securities, and product liability litigation, as well as life, health, and surety company defense. He also has extensive experience before Insurance Regulatory Departments and Com-
For more than 30 years, Adams and Reese’s Huckstep has guided companies in cuttingedge issues in health care, real estate, and corporate law. Serving as Of Counsel in the firm’s Birmingham office, Huckstep joined Adams and Reese in 2003 when she helped
guide the merger between Lange Simpson and Adams and Reese. Huckstep has also formerly served as the chair of the firm’s executive committee and as the partner in charge of the Birmingham office. Huckstep has reached many “first female” milestones, including first female partner at Lange, Simpson, Robinson & Somerville and first female member and later chair of the executive committee of Lange Simpson, a top 10 Alabama Law Firm. She has been listed in Best Lawyers® in Health Care Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law since 2005, and also in Alabama Super Lawyers®. She has been awarded such honors as Birmingham Business Journal’s Businesswoman of the Year Award for 2007, and also, in 2007, the Birmingham Bar Association’s “Nina Miglionico: Paving the Way” Leadership Award, given annually to a lawyer who has achieved professional excellence, assisted women lawyers through mentoring, inspired women lawyers through role modeling, and provided opportunities for the advancement of women lawyers. In the community, Huckstep is an active member of the Alabama Hospital As-
205-328-1365
SheffieldLentine.com
205 N. 20th St., Ste. 323 Birmingham, AL 35203
DEFENDING PEOPLE, not cases. Over 50 years experience specializing in criminal defense, domestic law and family law.
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. 152
b-metro.com
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
Nolan Byers, PC was founded in 2013 by Frances Ross Nolan and Leigh Reynolds Byers, to provide clients with access to all the options available today for resolving family law disputes. Recognizing that most clients are unfamiliar with the legal system and that every legal dispute creates enormous stress, our focus is on understanding each client’s concerns, educating them about their rights and choices and working with them to achieve their goals. We provide clients throughout Central Alabama with exceptional legal services in all aspects of family law, including: jurisdictional divorce issues, marital property characterization, asset valuation and division, spousal and child support, child custody, paternity matters, and prenuptial, postnuptial, and marital settlement agreements. As sophisticated problem solvers, we are also qualified to offer clients a cutting edge alternative to the conventional legal dispute resolution process known as Collaborative Divorce.
205/314-0638
www.nolanbyers.com No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
©2014 Porsche Cars North America, Inc. Porsche recommends seat belt usage and observance of all traffic laws at all times.
sociation, Alabama State Bar Association, American Bar Association (Health and Business Sections), American Health Lawyers Association, and Birmingham Bar Association. She serves on the executive committee of the board of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. She is a founder and now board chair of the Alabama nonprofit Living in Limbo, Inc. Huckstep formerly served as chair of the board of trustees of the YMCA of Birmingham. She earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1978, and she received her B.B.A. from University of Mississippi in 1975. Thomas Christian Christian & Small
Purity in its most impure form. Nothing can replicate the feeling of driving a Porsche. No other combination of sound, feel, sight and soul will suffice. Nothing else is as timeless nor as thrilling. And with the first ever Cayman GTS, nothing else delivers mischief quite as powerfully. Its legendary mid-engine layout, now more potent than ever, brings agility to a whole new level. Equipped with a standard Sport Chrono Package and optional Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission, 340 horsepower handily delivers 0-60 in 4.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of 175 mph. Clearly, the Cayman GTS is in possession of ulterior motives. Porsche. There is no substitute.
The Cayman GTS.
Tom Williams Porsche I-459 @ Grants Mill Road 205-397-2700 / 800-571-6399 tom-williams.porschedealer.com
154
b-metro.com
Having tried well over 100 cases to verdict and arguing numerous significant appeals before the Alabama Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Christian now leads other Christian & Small attorneys in the mastery of their trial skills. Christian’s trial experience has run the gamut, from personal injury/wrongful death cases to complex commercial disputes. He has tried cases in almost every Alabama county and all three federal district courts in Alabama. He has successfully handled a number of mass tort matters and other significant litigation Christian is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Less than 15 Alabama attorneys are members of all three of these invitation-only trial lawyer groups. He is a former president of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association and the Birmingham Bar Association. He has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America® for 23 consecutive years and is consistently voted by his peers as one of the Top 50 Alabama Attorneys in Alabama Super Lawyers®. J. Scott Vowell Vowell & Goldsmith, LLC
Since retiring from the bench in January of 2013, Vowell’s practice has consisted of alternative dispute resolution—mediation, arbitration, and private judging. Vowell served as a Jefferson County Circuit Judge for 18 years, the last 10 as Jefferson County’s Presiding Circuit Judge. Prior to taking the bench in 1994, Vowell was a civil litigator for more than 30 years. Judge Vowell is a director of the Birmingham Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyer Program and is a fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation. Judge Vowell has received many professional honors and awards during his legal career, including an Award of Merit from the Alabama State Bar (2005), the Alabama Chief Justice’s Professionalism Award (2012), and the Alabama State Bar’s Al Vreeland Pro Bono Award (2012). With a long history of civic involvement, he currently serves on the board of directors for Opera Birmingham, the Alabama Ballet, and the Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America and is a trustee of the Birmingham Metro YMCA. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and is a parishioner of the Cathedral Church of the Advent. Judge Vowell attended the public schools of Anniston and Jacksonville in his native Calhoun County before earning a B.S. from Auburn University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.
PROMOTION
topflightattorneys
1600 Woodmere Drive,• Birmingham, AL 35226 • (205) 879-0377
www.haynes-haynes.com No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
Most Admired Judges The Honorable Karon Bowdre Karon Bowdre is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. She joined the court in 2001 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. Prior to appointment, Bowdre was a fulltime professor of law at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. Bowdre became Chief Judge on Nov. 18, 2013, succeeding Judge Sharon Blackburn. Bowdre graduated from Samford University with her bachelor’s degree in 1977 and from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University with her J.D. in 1981. The Honorable Joseph L. Boohaker Judge Boohaker, a graduate of the University of Alabama (B.S. 1976; J.D. 1979), became a circuit judge for Jefferson County in January of 2001. Judge Boohaker served as a judicial law clerk to the judges of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Florence, Alabama (1979—1980) and worked in private practice (1980—2000) before serving as a judge. Judge Boohaker is active in the American Bar Association, the Birmingham Bar Association, and the Circuit Judges’ Association. The Honorable Patricia Stephens Judge Stephens became a circuit court judge, Domestic Relations, in January of 2013. She 156
b-metro.com
is a graduate of Auburn University and the Miles College School of Law, where she graduated cum laude. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Stephens served as a prosecuting attorney for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and with a general practice law firm, where she represented litigants in criminal and civil defense, family law, and personal injury. Judge Stephens is a member of the Alabama State Bar Association, the Birmingham Bar Association, the Magic City Bar Association, and the Birmingham Inns of Court. The Honorable Scott Coogler Judge Coogler is an Article III federal judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He joined the court in 2003 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. Judge Coogler graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with both his bachelor’s and J.D. degrees in 1981 and 1984, respectively. He served as a reservist in the Army National Guard from 1988 to 1991. Coogler started his legal career as a law clerk for former Alabama District Judge Paul Conger before entering into private practice in the State of Alabama from 1984 to 1999. In 1996, Coogler became a judge on Alabama Circuit 6. He served in this position until his appointment to the federal court in 2003. From 2000 to 2003, Coogler also serve as part-time professor at the University of Alabama School of Law.
The Honorable Tom King Jr. Judge King became a circuit judge in March of 2001. A graduate of the University of Alabama (1971) and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University (1976), Judge King was in private practice with King and King, Attorneys (1976—1991), served as vice president and corporate counsel for collateral mortgage, LTD, New South Federal Savings Bank, and Southwide Insurance Company (1991—1996), was a partner with Corley, Moncus, & Ward P.C. (1996—1998), and was in private practice as J. Thomas King, Jr., Attorney at Law (1998—2001), where he served as special counsel for the Alabama Public Service Commission. Judge King is a past president of the Young Lawyers’ Section of the Alabama State Bar, and has been a contributing writer to the Alabama Lawyer (1981—1982). The Honorable C. Tommy Nail Judge Nail began service as a criminal division circuit judge in 1999. He is a graduate of Jacksonville State University (B.S.) and the Birmingham School of Law (J.D.). Judge Nail has served as a Deputy District Attorney in Jefferson County for approximately nine years and was in private practice for approximately 15 years. He is active in the Alabama State Bar Association and the Birmingham Bar Association.
Our students thrive in an atmosphere of excellence As one of the nation’s premier student-centered research institutions, The University of Alabama offers students from our state the opportunity to succeed. With strong academics, an accomplished faculty and nearly limitless opportunities to participate in service learning, study abroad and undergraduate research programs, UA proves time and again why we are the Capstone of higher education.
G O B A M A . UA . E D U • 8 0 0 - 9 3 3 - B A M A ( 2 2 6 2 ) • 2 0 5 - 3 4 8 - 5 6 6 6