Texas

Ben Crump

Tallahassee, FL

Listed amongst the Most Influential People of 2021 by TIME100, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, Attorney Ben Crump is referred to as Black America’s Attorney General. Through a steadfast dedication to justice and service, renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump has established himself as one of the nation’s foremost lawyers and advocates for social justice. His legal acumen has ensured that those marginalized in American society are protected by their nation’s contract with its constituency. He is the founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law. Crump’s tireless advocacy has led to legislation preventing excessive force and developing implicit bias training and policies. He has represented families in several high-profile civil rights cases including Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Stephon Clark. He also represented victims in the Holtzclaw Oklahoma City Police rape case and worked on the Robbie Tolan excessive police force case. More recently, he represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by the poisoned water of the Flint River, as well as the family of Henrietta Lacks in a landmark reparations case. Crump has helped reach historic settlements and verdicts for families that have faced injustices, including a $411 million verdict for Duane Washington, a $641 million settlement for Flint, Michigan, a $27 million settlement for George Floyd's family, a $12 million settlement for Breonna Taylor's family, and over $200 million in banking while Black cases. Crump is the President of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association and previously served as President of the National Bar Association. He was the first African-American to chair the Florida State University College of Law Board of Directors and is the founder and director of the Benjamin Crump Social Justice Institute. In 2023, the College of Law at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida, became the Benjamin L. Crump College of Law. He has been recognized with the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award, the American Association for Justice Johnnie Cochran Award, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion for Service. He hosted legal docudramas and served as executive producer and writer for a documentary. He is a frequent contributor to MSNBC, CNN, and USA Today. Crump’s book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, reflects on the landmark cases he has battled, and how discrimination in the courthouse devastates real families and communities. Crump graduated from Florida State University and received his law degree from FSU College of Law. He is married to Dr. Genae Angelique Crump.

Mona Lisa Wallace

Salisbury, NC

Founding partner of Wallace & Graham, P.A. She has successfully litigated numerous significant personal injury, wrongful death, defective drug, asbestos, class action, and mass-tort claims, taking on some of the largest corporations in the world. Mona Lisa was one of the first and most successful asbestos trial lawyers in the Southeast, representing thousands of employees with asbestos exposure and achieving important legal precedents like the Satterfield decision. She expanded the firm into other practice areas, including successful class actions for employees and retirees (e.g., $178M+ settlement for medical/retirement benefits), taking on predatory lenders (payday loans), and class action lawsuits against car dealers. She co-counseled with the U.S. Department of Justice on improper medical billing/warranty practices, resulting in multi-million dollar settlements. Her firm has successfully sued corporations for environmental abuses, notably representing 500 neighbors against Smithfield Foods in swine nuisance litigation, winning over $500M in verdicts and earning her the Public Justice American Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2020. She was also appointed Co-Lead Counsel for plaintiffs in the Camp Lejeune Justice Act litigation. Her current legal efforts focus on excessive/unfair medical billing by hospital chains and improving nursing home care. She is a National Merit Scholar and a significant philanthropist, supporting the Wallace Educational Forum and the Novant Health Wallace Cancer Institute.

William Mattar is the Owner and President of William Mattar Law Offices, a firm he founded in 1990. He earned a B.S. in psychology from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1986 and his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 1988. Admitted to practice in New York in 1989 and numerous other states, William focuses his practice on motor vehicle accident cases, driven by a goal to make a difference for injured people. He has over 30 years of experience, collected over half a billion dollars for clients, and is actively involved in various community and charitable organizations.

Hans Poppe is the CEO & Lead Attorney at Poppe Law Firm, licensed in Kentucky and Indiana. He has a national reputation for handling catastrophic injury and death cases and contingency fee business-to-business litigation. Since 1998, he has secured numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, including the largest FELA verdict in Kentucky history and significant medical malpractice verdicts. He has been recognized as Peter Perlman Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year and Kentucky Plaintiff Trial Lawyer of the Year, and consistently named a Super Lawyer and Best Lawyer in America.

Thomas A. Crosley

San Antonio, TX

Tom Crosley is the managing partner of Crosley Law Firm, P.C. He is board-certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has tried over 60 cases and focuses on traumatic brain injury cases, achieving significant settlements and verdicts. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a former president of the San Antonio Bar Foundation.

John Elliott Leighton

Miami, FL

John Elliott Leighton is a board-certified trial lawyer and the Managing Partner of Leighton Panoff Law, P.A., with offices in Miami and Orlando, Florida. He has 40 years of experience successfully trying major personal injury and wrongful death cases, and has won some of the largest verdicts and settlements in Florida, including a $49 million verdict and two $24 million verdicts. He is recognized as a national expert in negligent security and violent crime litigation, authoring 'Litigating Premises Security Cases'. He received the Advocate of Justice Award from the National Crime Victim Bar Association and was recently elected President of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. He is a frequent lecturer and teacher at legal programs, including ATLA’s 'Ultimate Trial Advocacy College' at Harvard Law School. Mr. Leighton believes in educating the public and giving back to the community, regularly appearing on media outlets like NBC’s Today show and CNN. He continues to represent victims of sexual assault and sex abuse. He recently received the Daily Business Review 2015 'Verdicts Hall of Fame Award' and American Lawyer Media’s 'Top 100 Verdicts of 2017' and National Law Journal’s 'Elite Trial Lawyer Top 50 Verdicts' in 2018. He also represents victims of legal malpractice. He has served as Chairman of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s Motor Vehicle, Highway and Premises Liability Section, chairs the Inadequate Security Litigation Group, and sat on the Executive Committee of the National College of Advocacy Board of Trustees. He is Chairman of the Academy of Trial Advocacy and President of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. He is a member of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates) and has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America continuously since 2008. He has been voted into Florida SuperLawyers every year since 2006 and was honored as one of the Top 100 Florida SuperLawyers since 2009. He has been selected as a 'Top Lawyer' in the South Florida Legal Guide for 13 consecutive years and is listed in Florida Trend magazine’s 'Florida Legal Elite.' He was named 'Orlando Legal Elite' by Orlando Style magazine three years in a row. He has an A-V preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell and a 10.0/10 rating from AVVO.com. He is a board certified specialist in civil trial law by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization. He received both his J.D. and B.A. degrees with honors from the University of Florida.