Bradley is a long-time leader in the southeast of the country, with roughly half of its force dedicated to litigation. The firm’s headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama has the largest concentration of its litigators, trailed by its Jackson, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee offices. Bradley’s acclaimed product liability practice garnered it national recognition, and is still a prized practice, along with commercial and appellate litigation, which have risen to prominence as well.
The firm has several lawyers who have mastered the art of handling mass torts and multidistrict litigation.
Product liability expert David Hymer has been the co-lead counsel defending CVS Health in a series of opioid-epidemic lawsuits nationwide.
He has been leading the team on five bellwether cases related to the MDL proceeding pending in the Northern District of Ohio. Hymer's team is responsible for overseeing document production efforts across all cases.
Lindsey Boney has recently been leading clients in the life sciences industry through multidistrict litigation. Boney and fellow expert in product liability cases
Kim Martin were lead counsel to Wyeth (whose parent company is Pfizer) in a case alleging that it engaged in off-label promotion of its prescription medicine amiodarone. Boney led oral argument before the First District of the California Court of Appeal, which published an opinion of its affirmed dismissal.
Martin, partner in the Huntsville office, and Birmingham partner
Leigh Anne Hodge are both nationally recognized as product liability authorities. Along with Jackson, Mississippi partners
Will Manuel and Margaret Cupples, they lead the teams in the high-profile 3M multidistrict litigation regarding its allegedly defective earplugs. Manuel and Cupples are leading teams in the MDL consolidated in the Northern District of Florida, where they have been handling depositions and discovery. Cupples serves as national writing counsel for the team. Martin and Hodge have been leading the Case Specific Expert Team, which has been supervising a team of more than 20 of the firm’s lawyers to handle expert reports and depositions, including coordinating with ENT experts for plaintiffs across the 121 cases the team is responsible for handling in Waves 1 and 2. Martin, Hodge, and Manuel specialize in other areas in addition to product liability. Martin’s practice also includes white-collar crime and False Claims Act litigation, in which she recently obtained a dismissal in a case. Hodge serves as the firm’s co-chair of the litigation group and has developed expertise in handling matters on behalf of the healthcare industry. She recently handled a number of cases on behalf of Fresenius, litigating an array of matters from product liability mass tort to medical malpractice lawsuits. She is additionally lead on
ERISA cases, currently handling a case on behalf of MetLife. Manuel represents an accounting firm, Horne, in a bankruptcy-related case alleging professional liability claims after farmers sold grain to the now-insolvent grain dealer Express Grain Terminals (EGT). Owing to EGT’s bankruptcy, declared after the sale, the farmers were not paid or were drastically underpaid and have since filed lawsuits against the client and the company’s bank.
Birmingham partner Anne Marie Seibel
has maintained a nationwide practice that involves class actions and multi-plaintiff commercial disputes. As of late, she has been defending Priceline against lawsuits challenging the tax services provided by online travel companies like Priceline. After the pandemic, two cases were filed, framed as False Claims Act lawsuits. Seibel removed one to federal court, and one remains in state court, involving issues of first impression for the Nevada False Claims Act. Seibel secured a summary judgment ruling in the federal court case.
Christian & Small
is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and,
with
additional
offices in Jackson, Mississippi, and the Alabama Gulf Coast,
the firm serves
clients
regionally as well as
across the nation.
Some of its diverse practice areas include bankruptcy, real estate, construction, class action, and
complex litigation.
Michael Vercher of the Birmingham stronghold is among the firm’s founding members and represents both insurers and the insured in complex proceedings relating to mass-
tort claims, workplace exposure, product liability, construction, transportation, and a variety of other matters.
Among Vercher’s fellow Birmingham-based founding partners is Richard Smith,
who has developed a practice
featuring complex matters
that arise in the financial services, healthcare, and construction sectors. Smith currently represents
the design and engineering firm Stantec in three separate suits filed by plaintiffs, including the State of Alabama Department of Transportation, having to do with a recent $23 million bridge project on which the company was retained to provide engineering services.
Christina May Bolin defends individuals, businesses, and insurers against lawsuits and liability claims.
She has handled construction defect claims,
representing
both national and local contractors.
Bolin is also on the team with Richard Smith defending Stantec.
Heading
the firm’s bankruptcy and restructuring group from Birmingham is
Daniel Sparks, who represented Nelson Brothers
an
unsecured creditor of Cloud Peak Energy
that had filed Chapter 11.
Founding partner
Sharon Stuart’s
practice is
devoted to civil trial work and arbitration. She also
focuses on complex commercial and insurance litigation.
John Johnson
is head of the firm’s
insurance
coverage and
extra
contractual
practice.
He represents clients in tort litigation and breach of contract.
He also advises insureds sued under Alabama’s
dram
shop statutes and
guides carriers
regarding coverage for liquor-liability claims.
Lightfoot Franklin & White is an Alabama-headquartered litigation boutique with offices in Birmingham and Houston, Texas. The firm’s standing has been cemented by unanimous peer and client review – in keeping with this, Lightfoot was the recipient of the "Alabama Firm of the Year" award for the eighth consecutive year at the Benchmark Litigation awards in 2024, a remarkable honor. An appreciative client confirms, “Lightfoot has a number of attorneys that I trust. The legal analysis and writing is top notch, and they have excellent trial lawyers.” While the firm is addressed as “the top litigation shop in [Alabama],” its reputation extends beyond the state’s borders, with additional admirers throughout the Southeast region and clients retaining the firm for national-level appointments. One peer quips, “Lightfoot just keeps on blowin’ and goin’!”
One such client is GM, which has come to rely on Lightfoot’s product liability trial expertise.
Rachel Larysuccessfully defended GM in Georgia, in a case in which the plaintiff alleged that a defect in the vehicle's glass resulted in the loss of his left eye during an accident. Despite amending his complaint three times and seeking to do so for a fourth, Lightfoot moved to dismiss the claim based on statute of limitations grounds and opposed the plaintiff's fourth attempt to amend the complaint. The federal court ruled in favor of Lightfoot's stance and the automaker, dismissing the case. This dismissal was upheld at the Eleventh Circuit in February 2024. Lightfoot’s reputation for national-level auto clients extends to another of the Detroit “Big Three,” Ford.
Melody Eagan successfully defended this client at the Eleventh Circuit in an appellate matter originating from a 2016 car accident. In this case, the plaintiff decedent’s estate sued the automobile manufacturer in 2018, asserting that a defective seat belt design in the vehicle was the causative factor for the decedent's fatal injuries. In a product liability wrongful death case, the plaintiff sought millions in punitive damages. However, the jury returned a favorable verdict for the automaker. A 2021 decision at the Eleventh Circuit was fortified by its decision in August 2023 not to re-hear the case. Lee Hollis is defending Olin in several mass-action suits alleging trespass, nuisance, and negligence following chlorine leaks at one of its chemical plants. Almost 400 plaintiffs, who live near the chemical plant, have asserted claims for various health issues and depreciation of their property value, with claims exceeding $20 million. Hollis also is representing Numotion against claims of strict product liability, negligence, fraud and deceptive trade practice claims related to Numotion’s marketing and allegations that Numotion failed to use pressure mapping to detect a potential issue in the seat sling of the plaintiff’s wheelchair. The plaintiff alleges breach of the standard of care occurred when a seat cushion was delivered without an assistive technology professional, eventually resulting in development of a pressure sore. Additionally, plaintiffs assert Numotion fraudulently concealed and misrepresented its capabilities to prevent these types of injuries and also engaged in related deceptive trade practices. The case settled favorably on the eve of trial in February 2024.
Michael Bell and Haley Cox serve as the regional trial counsel for Terminix, overseeing a docket of over 60 active cases spanning the Southeast. These cases are centered around consumer fraud claims tied to Terminix’s termite control services, with each case involving claims alleging millions in damages.
Beyond product liability, Jack Sharman, who attends to a white-collar practice, is representing a senior engineering executive in a rigorous federal criminal investigation conducted by the DoJ’s Environmental Crimes Section. This high-profile case involves a leading Japanese global manufacturer of combustion engines and focuses on alleged violations of EPA emissions standards, the integrity of emissions testing processes, and the potential use of prohibited "defeat devices" to manipulate performance outcomes in contravention of environmental regulations.
