Benedict Gorner

Mr. Samples was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1976. Having established his career as a trial lawyer with another prominent firm, he came to Hare Wynn as a full partner in 1994. He is a native of Alexander City, Alabama. He is married to Colleen (a Master’s level R.N. and attorney), and they have been blessed with two children, Courtney and Connor. Shay worked his way through college and law school. He attended Alexander City Junior College where he was elected President of the Student ...

Anne Marie’s practice focuses on complex litigation and has taken her to trial in venues as diverse as Alabama state and federal courts, AAA arbitrations, and the Tribal Court of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Anne Marie’s complex litigation experience includes a case for Intel Corporation involving antitrust, patent, and state competitive practice claims and multi-billion dollar claims for HealthSouth Corporation, which led to a $2.8 billion verdict against the company’s...

William Curtis Gwathney III is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Public Finance Law. William Curtis, who practices law in Birmingham, Alabama, has been recognized since 2013. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William Curtis is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Bill Bensinger focuses his practice on commercial dispute litigation, bankruptcy and restructuring litigation. He represents creditors, franchisors, landlords, unsecured creditors’ committees and financial institutions in a wide variety of matters, including preference and avoidance actions, workout transactions and insolvency matters. Bill represents franchisors in bankruptcy, including matters concerning the assumption of franchise agreements, and represents landlords in bank matters ...

Mr. Mayhew serves clients with his expertise in a variety of matters including: mergers and acquisitions, business reorganizations, business structure and capitalization, business and commercial transactions, financial services, commercial lending, real estate law, estate administration, estate and trust planning, corporate and partnership taxation, and aviation law.

Tempe Smith is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Tempe, who practices law in Birmingham, Alabama, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Tempe is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Andy is a general litigator with a diverse practice encompassing multiple areas of litigation. Andy’s practice consists primarily of product liability defense, with a focus on pharmaceutical or drug and device litigation. Andy’s product liability work also has a concentration in tires and construction materials. Andy also devotes a significant portion of his practice to a broad array of commercial disputes, including both business disputes and financial services and insurance liti...

Jennifer McGahey has extensive experience in both commercial litigation and labor and employment matters. She represents clients in a variety of industries, such as e-commerce, natural resources, government contract, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and retail, and her clients range from large publicly-traded companies to small family-owned businesses. Jennifer has litigated cases ranging from a single plaintiff to class action to the federal government. Jennifer handles cases across the country a...

Richard Smith, one of the founding partners of Christian & Small and a partner with its predecessor, Rives & Peterson, has been an integral member of the firm’s litigation group for his entire legal career. He served as the firm’s Managing Partner for five years. Richard’s practice focuses primarily on complex and corporate litigation for clients in the financial services, health care and construction industries, as well as corporate entities in other industries. His...

Laura Schiele Robinson, Partner in the Birmingham office, concentrates her practice in the areas of corporate and business, employee benefits and executive compensation, employer resources, health care and mergers and acquisitions.