Areas of Practice

• Appellate Practice
• Mediation

Bar Admissions

• Alabama, 1986
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Alabama
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Alabama
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Alabama
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Education

• University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1986
  J.D.
  Honors: Bench & Bar Legal Honor Society
  Law Review: Alabama Law Review, 1984-86 (Articles Editor 1985-86)
  
  
• Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, 1980
  B.A.
  Major: English
  
  
• University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1999
  M.F.A.
  Major: Creative Writing
  
  

Published Works

• 2008 Eleventh Circuit Survey: Appellate Practice and Procedure, 60 Mercer L. Rev., (forthcoming), 2009
• 2007 Eleventh Circuit Survey: Appellate Practice and Procedure, 59 Mercer L. Rev. 1075 (2008)
• Alabama's Certiorari Practice Under the Recently Revised Rules of Appellate Procedure, 26 B'ham B. Ass'n Bull. 12 (2005)

Representative Cases

• Federated Mutual Ins. Co. v. McKinnon Motors, 329 F.3d 805 (11th Cir. 2003)
• Trawinski v. United Technologies, 313 F.3d 1295 (11th Cir. 2002)
• Nobel Insurance Co. v. First Nat'l Bank of Brundidge, 821 So. 2d 210 (Ala. 2001)
• R.J.D. v. Vaughan Clinic, P.C., 572 So. 2d 1225 (Ala. 1990)
• Roberts v. Public Cemetery of Cullman, Inc., 569 So. 2d 369 (Ala. 1990)
• McCain v. McCain, 895 So. 2d 362 (Ala. Civ. App. 2004)
• Key v. Compass Bank, Inc, 826 So. 2d 159 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001)

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Introduction to Dispute Resolution (accelerated one-week course), Walter F. George School of Law, Mercer University; Fall 2007
• Legal Analysis, Walter F. George School of Law, Mercer University; Fall 2007
• Legal Writing II, Walter F. George School of Law, Mercer University; Fall 2007
• Law & Literature, Cumberland School of Law, Samford University; Spring 2007
• How Is a Witch Unlike A Duck? Effectively Marshalling Case Analogies in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals (and Elsewhere), Alabama Bar Institute for Continuing Legal Studies; 2006
• Effective Appellate Brief Writing, Cumberland School of Law Continuing Legal Education; 2006
• Advanced Legal Writing Workshop, Cumberland School of Law Continuing Legal Education; 2005
• CLE by the Hour: Alabama's Certiorari Practice, Cumberland School of Law Continuing Legal Education; 2004
• Essential Skills for Appellate Practice: Petitions for Writ of Certiorari in Appellate Practice, Cumberland School of Law Continuing Legal Education; 2002
• Insurance Law, Cumberland School of Law, Samford University; 2003 - 07
• Lawyering & Legal Reasoning, Cumberland School of Law, Samford University; 2000 - 07

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Registered on the Alabama State Court Mediator Roster, 2008 - Present
  
  
• Birmingham and American Bar Associations
  Member
  
  
• Birmingham Bar Association, A.D.R. Committee, 2009 - Present
  Member
  
  
• American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution, 2008 - Present
  Member
  
  
• Alabama State Bar Appellate Practice Section, 2009 - Present
  Member
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• Walter F. George School of Law, Mercer University, Visiting Assistant Professor, Fall 2007
• Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, Visiting Assistant Professor, 2006 - 2007
• Alabama Supreme Court, Law Clerk to Justice J. Gorman Houston, 1987 - 1988
• Alabama Supreme Court, Law Clerk to Chief Justice C.C. Torbert, Jr., 1986 - 1987

Pro Bono Activities

• Mediator, Jefferson County (Alabama) Court Mediation Project, 2008 - Present

Birth Information

• 1958, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States of America