Best Lawyers in Alabama, United States for Appellate Practice

Barry is a litigator in our Birmingham office. He recently returned to Sirote, where he began his legal career, after spending the last 15 years representing defendants and plaintiffs in anti-trust, securities, insurance and business fraud cases. He also handles matters involving products liability, shareholder, and other complex litigation and class actions. Barry represents clients in state and federal courts.

Matt Lembke, one of five Bradley Arant Boult Cummings lawyers to have clerked for the Supreme Court of the United States, has the broad range of skills necessary to be effective in representing clients at both the trial and appellate levels. He has applied those skills for more than 16 years in dozens of high-stakes cases. Matt has extensive experience in handling appeals pending in both state and federal courts, including arguing cases in the Alabama Supreme Court and the D.C., Fifth, and El...

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.

Rudy is a partner in the firm’s Litigation and Intellectual Property Practice Groups. In his litigation practice, Rudy handles matters at both trial and appellate levels. At the trial level, he has first-chaired jury trials in both federal and state courts. Rudy has also briefed and presented oral arguments in both state and federal appellate courts.

Mr. Kelly’s practice covers a wide range of civil litigation, with an emphasis on medical malpractice and appellate law. He has handled appeals involving many areas of the law, including medical malpractice, patent infringement, fraud, bad faith, employment law, premises liability, workers’ compensation, education law, and civil rights claims.

W. Joseph McCorkle Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice, Banking and Finance Law, Commercial Litigation and Insurance Law. W. Joseph, who practices law in Montgomery, Alabama, has been recognized since 2005. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which W. Joseph is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

A fifth-generation attorney with 40 years of legal experience, Bill’s practice at Helmsing Leach is focused on civil litigation with an emphasis on appellate advocacy. He has handled numerous appeals in state and federal courts resulting in more than one hundred published decisions. Bill’s practice also includes environmental law and insurance litigation, and he has represented clients in a variety of civil disputes in product liability, construction litigation and more. In additi...

Mr. Canupp is a shareholder in the firm and an adjunct professor of employment law at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Mr. Canupp’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on litigation in federal court, both at the trial and appellate levels. Among other areas of practice, Mr. Canupp frequently is engaged on issues of constitutional law; voting rights, civil rights, and police liability claims; and employment litigation. A former federal law clerk, he has...

Thomas A. “Tom” Woodall is Counsel in Dentons' Birmingham, Alabama office, where he is a member of the Litigation practice group and leads the Dentons Sirote Alternative Dispute Resolution team. As a former Alabama Supreme Court Justice, Tom’s practice focuses on all aspects of the appellate process, from drafting briefs and motions to oral arguments, in all Alabama and federal appellate courts, including the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Ala...

Marc James Ayers is a member of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP's Appellate Litigation Group. He represents individual, corporate and governmental clients before state and federal appellate and trial courts. Marc is listed in Best Lawyers in Americain the field of Appellate Law, and has handled numerous appeals in the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, and other state appellate courts. He has also represented clients on petitions for certio...

Sharon Stuart devotes her practice to civil trial work and arbitration. She focuses on complex commercial and insurance litigation, and she handles a variety of product liability cases including pharmaceutical and medical device products liability litigation as national, regional or local counsel. Her trial experience includes a wide range of business tort claims, contract disputes, commercial and insurance fraud and bad faith suits, and wrongful death cases. She has defended dozens of class ...

Focusing on strategic planning, motion practice, and appeals, Dave Wirtes has worked for over three decades helping our firm and our clients be successful in litigation. Dave’s efforts in Alabama, Mississippi, and throughout the Country help protect working men and women in ways most will never know. He has won many battles against powerful defendants and in the course of doing so helped change laws to give victims justice. He has been rated by Martindale Hubbell for decades as AV® ...

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...

Adam K. Israel is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation. Adam K., 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 Adam K. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

J. Park Wynn is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Labor and Employment. J. Park, 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. Park is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Shara G. Haden is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice. Shara G., who practices law in Birmingham, Alabama, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Shara G. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.