George M. "Marty" Van Tassel, Jr.

Mike Vercher is a partner and former chair of Christian & Small’s Insurance and Financial Services Practice Group. For over 20 years, he has represented insurance companies and their insureds in litigation and coverage disputes. Mike also routinely represents businesses in complex mass tort, workplace exposure, construction, transportation, product liability, premises liability, breach of contract and fraud litigation. He has tried cases as lead counsel in seven different Alabama co...

James R. "Jim" Sturdivant is a shareholder at Dentons Sirote in Birmingham, Alabama, where he is a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice and leads the Dentons Sirote White Collar and Government Investigations team. Jim represents and defends clients in criminal and white collar investigations and proceedings, including those brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the United States Justice Department, the Ala...

Alicia Bennett is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area of Insurance Law. Alicia practices law in Birmingham, Alabama Best Lawyers has recognized Alicia Bennett since 2025. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Alicia Bennett is held by other lawyers.

Jason Walters is a litigation partner in the firm's insurance group and serves as national and regional counsel for several life and health insurance companies. His practice focuses on both individual and class action litigation, with particular emphasis in the area of fraudulent sales practices and the bad faith denial of benefits for life insurance, annuities, and long term care products. Jason also has extensive experience defending insurers in litigation filed by agents and independent ma...

Greer Mallette serves as managing partner and focuses his practice on real estate, construction, and business litigation matters. He advises small business owners regarding their rights, duties, and obligations, and has litigated claims of shareholder oppression, squeeze-outs, and breach of fiduciary duties. He works with banks, title companies and other property owners on matters related to commercial contracts, leases, loan closings and resolves real estate problems, such as title and bound...

Julia Bernstein’s practice focuses on all aspects of the representation of lenders and borrowers in secured and unsecured transactions, finance transactions involving commercial real estate, corporate finance transactions and multi-state transactions. Julia frequently issues legal opinions in connection with multi-state projects and as local counsel for transactions originated outside of Alabama secured by real property located within the state.

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...

David Hymer is an accomplished trial lawyer who has 40 years of experience trying and arbitrating high-stakes disputes for a variety of corporate and individual clients across many disciplines. That broad-based trial experience gives him a unique perspective, enabling him to team with his clients to develop strategies that will guide them through complex and challenging disputes while staying focused on achieving his clients’ objectives. David’s practice concentrates on complex bu...

With more than 25 years of experience as a labor and employment attorney, Wesley Redmond has a unique approach to litigation and particular experience representing retail clients and religious institutions. Wesley regularly represents clients in state and federal courts as well as before administrative agencies and he counsels them in complying with the many federal and state employment and labor laws. His litigation approach is to test as early as possible the validity of claims made by empl...

Timothy J. Tracy is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law. Timothy J. practices law in Birmingham, Alabama Best Lawyers has recognized Timothy J. Tracy since 2007. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Timothy J. Tracy is held ...