Blake W. Harper

Joseph Leavens is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Construction. Joseph, who practices law in Birmingham, Alabama, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Joseph is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Herbert H. West, Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law. Herbert H., 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 Herbert H. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Rod Kanter is a member of the firm's Public Finance Practice Group and the Emerging Growth Company Team. His primary practice includes serving as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, and counsel to issuers of letters of credit in all types of tax-exempt and taxable debt financings. His representation of clients include the State of Alabama, various health care authorities, cities and counties, colleges and universities, industrial development boards, commercial development authorities, airpor...

T. Scott Kelly, a shareholder in the Birmingham office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Stewart, provides practical solutions for federal contractors and subcontractors across the United States to comply with the ever-changing affirmative action obligations imposed by doing business with the federal government. He advocates on behalf of his clients in compliance evaluations and administrative enforcement actions trigged by the United States Department of Labor's Office of Federal Cont...

Ed R. Haden is a partner with Balch & Bingham LLP, chairs the firm's Appellate Practice Group, and is the author of the Alabama Appellate Practice (LexisNexis) . Ed has twenty years of legal experience in the government and private sectors, has worked on over 100 appeals, and his practice focuses on appellate litigation in the Supreme Court of Alabama and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Ed specializes in knowing the written and unwritten rules and practices necessary t...

J. Ben Ford is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. J. Ben, who practices law in Birmingham, Alabama, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which J. Ben is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Chris has defended a wide variety of mass torts and products ranging from pharmaceuticals and medical devices, to consumer, commercial and industrial products and manufacturing systems. He has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Mid-South Super Lawyers .

Mike Brown is the head of the Real Estate Litigation Team at the firm. Mike is a member of the firm’s Environmental and Toxic Tort Practice Group and the General Litigation Practice Group. Mike’s emphasis in both practice groups is on real property and land use matters. Because of this emphasis in his practice, Mike also works very closely with the Real Estate Group. For the past several years, Mike has served as an adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law wher...

Lea Richmond, IV is a shareholder in Carr Allison's Birmingham (AL) office. His trial practice involves the defense of transportation liability litigation, products liability and health care litigation. In 2014, Lea received an exclusive honor when he was appointed by the Alabama Supreme Court to serve a three-year term on the Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions Committee - Civil. This committee is charged with drafting the language of the pattern jury instructions that are used across the stat...

Thomas S. Creel is a shareholder with Carr Allison and is based out of the Birmingham, Alabama office. A large portion of his practice consists of the defense of construction defect, professional liability and workers’ compensation claims. He provides litigation and consultation support on a wide range of issues within these practice areas and has successfully defended a broad spectrum of clients, including national, regional and local corporations, insurance companies, self-insured com...