David Vaughan

Alan is a member of the Products, Catastrophic and Industrial Litigation Group, and concentrates his practice on product liability law, pharmaceutical and medical devices, mass torts, and business litigation.

Virginia Patterson's law practice focuses on the corporate, business and securities area. Virginia advises clients on a wide variety of business issues, including organizational matters, corporate governance, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, debt and equity financing and securities law compliance. In addition, Virginia has considerable experience in the area of debt restructuring, securitization transactions, formation of domestic and international joint ventures, licensing, and domest...

Keith Covington is a partner in the firm’s Birmingham, Alabama office where he practices labor and employment, immigration, and construction law. Keith counsels employers on a wide variety of topics, including labor relations, union avoidance, equal employment opportunity, OSHA compliance, disability accommodation, non-compete agreements, and issues relating to employee discipline and termination. His immigration practice includes worksite compliance and obtaining employer-based non-imm...

Sarah E. Hoffmann is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law. Sarah E., 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 Sarah E. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

DAN McCRARY is a partner at Balch & Bingham LLP, where he serves as Chair of the Energy Practice Group. Over the course of his career, he has represented energy companies in a wide variety of regulatory, transactional and litigated matters. These include numerous proceedings before the FERC involving rate filings, complaints, market-based rate authority (including triennial screens and Delivered Price Test analyses), energy auctions, affiliate transactions, transmission tariffs, fuel buyo...

There’s a lot that goes into it, but to really succeed in this profession, I’ve come to believe these three qualities are 90% of it: courage, humanity, and humility. Courage. You must be unafraid. Following a particularly nasty trial, my wife summed up my job: “They are schoolyard bullies. They’ve already bullied your client once, and now they want to use the trial to do it again. But you walk up, stand next to them, put your hand on their shoulder, steel yourself, and...

James R. "Jim" Sturdivant is a shareholder in Dentons Sirote’s Birmingham, Alabama, office, where he is a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group and leads the Dentons Sirote White Collar and Government Investigations team. Jim represents and defends clients in criminal and white collar investigations and proceedings, whether brought by the United States Justice Department, the Alabama Attorney General, the United States Attorney, or local district attorneys. He r...

Jess Nix is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. Jess, 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 Jess is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Daniel James Ruth is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law and Tax Law. Daniel James, 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 Daniel James is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Scott Sims is a shareholder in Dentons Sirote’s Birmingham, Alabama office, where he is a member of the Real Estate practice group and leads the Dentons Sirote Hotels and Leisure team. Scott is a trusted counselor to business corporations, advising them on critical industry matters. He represents clients in commercial real estate transactions, loan closings, general business negotiations and transactions, cell tower leasing, and title work. Scott has worked on over 2,000 cell tower site...