James W. Childs Jr.

As a member of the firm’s Finance and Real Estate Group, Brad focuses his practice on commercial real estate, corporate law, intellectual property law, and wills and estates.

Richard J. Riley is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Richard J., 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 Richard J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jeff is one of the founding partners of Marsh, Rickard & Bryan. At first, Jeff wanted to be an engineer. His father was an engineer and he saw the profession as challenging and rewarding. Then, he discovered an affinity for words and speaking, which led him to the law. “Both professions require critical thinking,” says Jeff. “That was and still is very important to me.” Jeff gives much credit to the advantages of growing up in small town Alabama where everybody too...

Carolyn Duncan’s practice is concentrated in securities issuance and compliance matters. Experienced in a wide variety of public and private securities work, she represents issuers, underwriters, and other parties in numerous facets of this area of law, including public and private offerings of securities, registration and continuous disclosure matters, proxy solicitations, tender offers, business combinations, restricted securities and transactions by corporate insiders. She represents...

Andy is a member of the firm's Corporate & Securities Practice Group and is co-chair of the Family-Owned Business Team. He advises public and private clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, divestitures, joint ventures, corporate finance transactions, proxy contests and general corporate and securities law matters in various industries, including manufacturing and distribution, professional services, retail, real estate development, banking and financial...

Personal relationships have always been the backbone of Sonny Ferguson’s law practice. He says parties respond to someone who will listen to their issues and provide them with a truthful evaluation of the facts. Once the parties engage the firm’s services, as a mediator or as a Private Judge, Sonny believes they deserve 100% of his attention to their issues and a timely resolution to their matter. Sonny joined Christian & Small after serving as a judge for 15 years in the Dome...

Leon Ashford has been a trial lawyer for 42 years. Throughout the course of his career, Mr. Ashford has a proven record of consistently obtaining multimillion dollar jury verdicts and settlements for his clients, their families and their small businesses. Though he has always focused his practice on complex litigation involving catastrophic personal injuries and wrongful death, he has recently been called upon to represent family-owned and closely held businesses in litigation which threatene...

Michael places paramount importance on understanding a client’s business and developing tailored solutions that work for each individual client. He aims to build a trusted partnership with his clients to help navigate the difficult and ever-changing issues employers face daily. While he has had numerous victories as an attorney, Michael takes the most pride in helping his clients avoid litigation through a common sense and cost-effective approach. Through serving as interim in-house emp...

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.

Tracy Thompson is a partner in the firm's Birmingham office. Her practice is concentrated in the corporate and securities area and includes mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, private placements of equity and debt securities, and general corporate advice. Most of her time is spent representing clients in stock or asset purchase or sale transactions and mergers. Tracy also regularly advises clients with regard to drafting and negotiating buy-sell, partnership and operating agreements, corp...