Birmingham, AL

Ken Riley

Ken Riley was born and raised in Alexander City, Alabama. After obtaining his business degree at the University of Alabama, Mr. Riley went on to complete his legal studies at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. For over eighteen years, Mr. Riley has dedicated his law practice to helping injured victims obtain fair and just settlements and verdicts. Mr. Riley tailors his practice to not only focus on people involved in catastrophic accidents, but also those injured by defective medical devices, child-related accidents, as well as victims of nursing home abuse. Mr. Riley is perennially recognized as a Super Lawyer Honoree for 11 years, a national peer-nominated publication that names the best attorneys across all 50 states, in the area of Personal Injury Litigation. In 2017, he was included in Super Lawyers’ top 50 Alabama attorneys list. He has achieved an AV Preeminent rating, the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards by his peers. He is also recognized by Birmingham Magazine as one of Birmingham’s “Top Attorneys,” and has received multiple multi-million dollar settlements for his clients.

David Marsh

David Marsh, a founding partner of Marsh, Rickard & Bryan, is widely recognized as one of the premier trial attorneys in the country. He has been awarded many honors, accolades, and recognition for his work both in the legal profession and the community. But he is genuinely embarrassed by the praise. “This is about justice for our clients. It’s not about me,” says David. “Our clients are victims of circumstances beyond their control. They need help and have often run out of places to go. We stand up for those people by guiding them through rapidly expanding restrictions set forth by the courts. We make sure they are protected. We can’t always put an end to their suffering. But if we can make a difference, a difference that helps restore them physically, mentally, financially, spiritually and emotionally, we feel we have done our job. We want justice to be done. We often are the last resort in ensuring a path to justice.” David has been practicing law and representing individuals and businesses in personal injury, wrongful death, and complex business cases for more than forty years. He has been included in every addition of Alabama’s Super Lawyers since its inception, and Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers has chosen David as its Lawyer of the Year multiple times. He is profiled as a “Tier 1” litigator in Chambers USA. In 1983, David became the youngest lawyer in America to receive a million-dollar-plus verdict when he did so (three times) at the age of 27. Since that time, he has obtained more than 50 verdicts in excess of a million dollars with numerous verdicts in excess of $10 million dollars. David is a sustaining member of the Alabama Association for Justice, a member of the Birmingham and Alabama state bars, the American Association for Justice, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American College of Trial Lawyers. David is a past president of the Alabama Association for Justice and continues to serve on the organization’s executive committee. He has been inducted into the Inner Circle of Advocates - an invitation only group consisting of only 100 of America’s top trial lawyers. David is a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society. David has authored dozens of articles on civil litigation and is frequently asked to speak at lawyer groups throughout the country, both plaintiff and defense, on trial techniques. He has handled cases in every county in Alabama, as well as before the Alabama Supreme Court, the 5th and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. David has been involved politically in the Alabama legislature and elsewhere for decades fighting for the right to trial by jury and against attacks on the civil justice system. He has acted as an advisor, both formally and informally to numerous governors, senators and others seeking office. David Marsh, already celebrated as one of the nation’s leading trial attorneys, has recently been honored again by The Best Lawyers in America® as “Lawyer of the Year” in Personal Injury Litigation. While he is deeply appreciative of the recognition, David remains focused on his primary mission: fighting for justice on behalf of those who have been wronged.

Richard S. Jaffe

Richard S. Jaffe has tried hundreds of jury trials and represented thousands of individuals in the state and federal courts over his forty plus year career. His representation has included professionals of all types, including judges, lawyers, mayors, lobbyists, legislators, pharmacists, doctors, accountants, mental health experts, dentists, politicians, engineers and CEOs. To Mr. Jaffe, each person is a human being of immense individual value, and he endeavors to give each client the deep respect and attention each person facing real fear and adversity deserves. Mr Jaffe fights fearlessly for his clients, and gratefully acknowledges that he owes much of his success to working collaboratively with the brilliant and talented team of lawyers he is privileged to work with. Each year since 2007, both Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers of America have recognized Mr. Jaffe as one of the leading white-collar and criminal defense lawyers in Alabama. Best Lawyers has named him Lawyer of the Year in criminal defense four times since 2010 and Super Lawyers listed Mr. Jaffe in 2014 as one of the top 10 lawyers in Alabama. In 1984 he became the 2nd criminal defense attorney in Alabama to become certified by NBTA as a Criminal Trial Specialist. Martindale Hubbell has awarded him its highest rating as AV since 1982. He is licensed to practice law in Alabama, Georgia, New York, and DC, as well as numerous federal courts and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Jaffe has represented over sixty people facing the death penalty. He is the only lawyer in the country to serve as lead counsel at new trials in which juries acquitted three people once on death row. He has handled six federal death penalty cases, including that of Eric Robert Rudolph, known as the Olympic Park Bomber. No client of Mr. Jaffe is currently on death row, and none have been executed. For over twenty years he chaired the death penalty committee for ACDLA, elevating its annual seminar to national recognition. Mr. Jaffe is one of a select group of lawyers who are equally experienced and comfortable representing clients in both State and Federal courts. 90% of his clients come from referrals from other lawyers. He has earned a national reputation in both White -collar criminal defense in the federal and state courts as well as his defense of individuals facing the most serious offenses in State courts. Mr. Jaffe served as a Board of Director for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) for a total of twelve years over his career and in 2013 the American College of Trial Lawyers inducted him as a Fellow. He has served as President of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (ACDLA) and is the Founder of the Greater Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (GBCDLA) and was twice elected as its president. Mr. Jaffe is widely recognized as one of the leading experts on criminal law in the United States and is frequently called upon by local and national media outlets for his insight on complex issues involving criminal law. Author of Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned, 1st and 2nd editions, he has trained lawyers in communication and trial skills throughout the United States and has written numerous articles on persuasion, state and federal criminal defense, and trial techniques.

Kirby Farris

Kirby Farris, the managing partner of Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP, has long been an avid believer in pursuing justice for those injured and killed as the result of a personal injury. For over two decades, Mr. Farris has dedicated his practice to representing victims of personal injury and Federal Employers Liability Act, commonly known as FELA. Mr. Farris distinguished himself as a long-term employee of the Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation, working as a laborer in the Maintenance of Way department for eleven years. Mr. Farris focuses his practice on railroad litigation (FELA), FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), Personal Injury and wrongful death. He has been awarded numerous multimillion-dollar settlements and handles FLSA class actions all over the U.S.

W. Cagney McCormick

W. Cagney McCormick has zealously represents injured plaintiffs across the nation since 2012. Our firm is the largest headquartered personal injury firm in North Texas working in over 16 states on a daily basis. He is the only Personal Injury attorney in the country licensed in 11 states and one federal district. Mr. McCormick is a native of the South Dallas area growing up in Desoto, Red Oak, Lancaster & Waxahachie while also spending time in California. W. Cagney McCormick has worked over 100,000 insurance claims for injured clients throughout the nation. He is the only Personal Injury Attorney in America to be licensed in 11 states and two federal districts. Mr. McCormick is a native of the South Dallas area growing up in Ellis County, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin for his undergraduate degree. Mr. McCormick attended evening classes at St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio while working full-time at Dell Inc. In addition to managing a full-time corporate job and night school, Mr. McCormick completed a thesis focusing on cybersecurity law. His thesis was later published by Southern Methodist University School of Law. He spent extra time working in the school’s Center for Terrorism Law. When Mr. McCormick returned to the DFW area, he initiated the McCormick Law College Scholarship Program starting at Waxahachie High School in 2016. Each year successful students at WHS who attend the University of Texas at Austin are rewarded with college scholarships. McCormick Law Firm is also a proud sponsor of the WHS Cheer Squad, Fort Worth Stock Show, 95.9 The Ranch: Ranch Bash, WHS Special Olympics, and various donations to back-to-school causes throughout DFW.

JOHN A. LENTINE

John received his B.A. with honors from the University of West Florida and his J.D. from Cumberland Law School in 1987. He practices exclusively criminal defense work on the trial and appellate levels throughout the State of Alabama and in a variety of federal trial and appellate courts. He is a past president of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Greater Birmingham Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham. He is a life member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and he has been board certified as a Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has served as the Board’s State Coordinator in Alabama. He was the CJA Panel Representative and Resource Counsel for the United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama for ten years and also served as the 11th Circuit’s Representative to and for 3 years served as the Chief CJA Panel Representative in the United States to the Defender Services Advisory Group for the Administrative Office of Courts in Washington. He has been appointed by the Alabama Supreme Court to serve on the Alabama Criminal Rules Committee and the Alabama Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. He is a faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, and the Georgia Criminal Defense Association’s Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program. He is an adjunct faculty member at Cumberland School of Law where he teaches trial advocacy and the Birmingham School of Law where he teaches criminal law, criminal procedure and the Death Penalty. He has been a Fellow in the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America specializing in Non-White Collar and White Collar Criminal Defense, Alabama’s SuperLawyers in the area of criminal defense, and The Birmingham Magazine’s and The Birmingham Business Journal’s Best Lawyers in Birmingham and acknowledged by The American Trial Lawyer’s Association as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in Alabama. He is the 2010 recipient of the Judge Walter P. Gewin Award from CLE Alabama for his contributions to the development and presentation of CLE programs. In 2012 he was named Birmingham’s Lawyer of the Year in Non White Collar Criminal Defense by Best Lawyers in America.

Keith Jackson

Keith Jackson is a founding partner of Riley & Jackson, P.C. and chairs the firm’s mass tort division. He earned his law degree from Emory University School of Law, where he was selected to the National Moot Court Team, named Emory’s Best Oral Advocate, and inducted into the Order of Barristers and Lamar Inn of Court. He also studied international law at University College of London. For over 25 years, he has litigated complex civil cases, focusing on catastrophic injuries, defective medical devices, and dangerous pharmaceutical drugs. He also represents local governments in opioid nuisance abatement litigation, leading the court-appointed State of Alabama Local Government Executive Committee. Mr. Jackson was instrumental in the Intuitive da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical system litigation, resulting in a 9-figure recovery and product improvements. He served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Cook IVC Filter MDL. He has been involved in mass tort litigation for two decades, including Camp Lejeune Justice Act claims, firefighting foam, IVC filters, Stryker hip implants, hernia/transvaginal mesh, Xarelto, RoundUp, and Philips CPAP machines. He has recovered tens of millions for clients, including a $10,000,000 jury verdict, a $15,000,000 settlement, and a $3,250,000 medical malpractice verdict. He is recognized in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers Top 25 Mass Tort Lawyers, and the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum. He is an AV rated attorney. He is active in the Alabama State Bar and serves on the Homewood Athletic Foundation Board, supporting NeverThirst.