Best Lawyers in America for Transportation Law

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...

James Bailey is a partner in SBSB Eastham’s Houston office whose practice focuses primarily on litigation and arbitration related to all matters of maritime law. He regularly represents vessel owners, managers, operators, P&I clubs and marine insurers in marine casualty losses and contract disputes including collisions, allisions, cargo damage and loss, charter party disputes, regulatory and environmental matters, oil and hazardous materials pollution and personal injury. Additional...

Etienne Balart is a partner in the Maritime and Litigation practice groups, in the Construction Industry Team, and co-leads the firm's Latin America working group. He provides transactional and litigation counsel to clients in the energy and maritime industries. Etienne helps clients identify and quantify financial, compliance, and other risks associated with disputes and litigated matters, negotiate, and, where necessary, bring to trial commercial and other disputes. Relying upon this deep e...

Will Baldwin is co-leader of the firm’s Maritime Industry Group and leader of the firm’s maritime transactional team, where he focuses on maritime transactions and marine finance. Will also serves as co-chair of the firm’s offshore wind initiative. Will advises and represents clients on a wide range of complex marine transactional matters, including financings, ship mortgages, the purchase and sale of marine assets, Jones Act compliance, and governmental approval for maritim...

During his nearly 30-year legal career, Tim Becker has become known and revered as one of this nation’s leading truck crash attorneys. Through his work at Dollar, Burns, Becker & Hershewe, Tim has tried truck crashes in 33 of the 50 states and won millions of dollars in settlements for his clients. Tim knows, without exception, truck crashes are not accidents. There is a reason the crash happened, and he works tirelessly to find out why. Tim knows the patterns, what to look for, wha...

Brad Belsome handles matters involving transportation law, specifically within the Rail Industry. He has represented a Class I Carrier in actions brought in the State and Federal courts of Louisiana, as well as before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Court of Federal Claims, Office of Administrative Law Judges, OSHA, including: claims prosecuted pursuant to the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. (1908), the Federal Rail Safety Act (FRS...

Richard Bertram is a partner in the Maritime Practice Group. Richard has more than 30 years of experience in admiralty and maritime law. He handles a wide range of domestic and international admiralty and maritime matters, including transactions, litigation, arbitration, appellate, regulatory, and administrative law, marine casualty investigations, regulatory compliance, and marine pollution and environmental matters.

With an extensive trial résumé, Brian centers his practice on the defense of transportation liability claims involving large commercial trucks and buses, medical negligence cases, insurance coverage litigation, insurance bad faith and extra-contractual litigation, and insurance regulatory matters including representation of the North Carolina Rate Bureau and the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility. Brian has litigated cases to verdict in many state and federal courts in North Ca...

After graduating from the Ole Miss Law School in May 1976, Bob spent one year (1976-1977) as a law clerk to the Chief Judge for the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Upon completion of his clerkship, he immediately entered the practice of law focusing his practice in Litigation. For 42 years he has been actively engaged in a general trial practice in all Mississippi courts, state and federal. He is a former President of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers and an active member of the F...

One of the firm’s founders, Charles Carr has more than 35 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts in Alabama. Charles has litigated in many other states throughout the United States. He has served as national coordinating counsel on complex and catastrophic personal injury cases in 25 states within the United States for a major national insurance carrier. Currently, Charles serves as national trial counsel for Swift Transportation, one of the largest motor carriers in...

Robert A. Clifford is founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, Chicago’s premier personal injury law firm, recognized globally for its depth of talent, record results, and decades of experience in handling complex personal injury and wrongful death litigation. Under Clifford’s leadership, the firm has significantly impacted the lives of individual clients and their families, recovering over $5 billion in judgments and settlements for victims suffering from catastrophic ...

Bradley M. Cosgrove is a Chicago medical malpractice attorney, personal injury attorney, and partner at Clifford Law Offices. He is an experienced trial attorney in the areas of medical malpractice, trucking accidents, automobile collisions, personal injury, and wrongful death who believes that results speak for themselves. As a young Chicago personal injury attorney, Brad began his career as a trial lawyer. As a matter of fact, he undertook his first jury trial just one day after he received...

Angela Farag Craddock is a partner at Young Moore, focusing her practice on helping businesses and institutional clients navigate civil litigation, state administrative litigation, and appeals. She leads the firm’s Appellate Practice and is a member of the Transportation and Logistics, Workers’ Compensation, and Insurance Regulation Practice groups. She also helped to spearhead formation of Young Moore’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee as its inaugural Chair and has been...

As part of the Mouledoux, Bland, Legrand & Brackett’s “wheels team,” Member Gerard J. Dragna focuses his practice on transportation, trucking and automobile defense and litigation. He has represented Fortune 500 companies, motor carriers, trucking and transportation companies and their insurers in legal matters throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. As supported by the peer honors he has received, including Louisiana Super Lawyers and New Orleans Magazine Top Lawyers, Ger...

David has over 30 years of trial and litigation experience trying cases throughout the North Carolina state and federal courts. He focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, with special emphasis on the defense and representation of clients in trucking and transportation, product liability and business litigation. David represents numerous national clients across North Carolina. He has also successfully represented his clients at the appellate level before the North Carolina Court of A...

For more information, please visit www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/dupree-jr-thomas-h/ .

Kevin Durkin is a partner at Clifford Law Offices. Over a career that spans more than 35 years, Mr. Durkin has successfully represented clients in many practice areas, including: Aviation accident litigation and transportation liability Truck, railroad and automobile litigation Premises liability and negligent security Medical malpractice Mr. Durkin has been named a top-tier attorney by U.S. News-Best Lawyers in the areas of personal injury litigation, aviation law and product liability since...

Alan Easterly is an Equity Member of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC. He practices out of the firm's Chattanooga, Tennessee office. His practice concentrates on transportation, product liability (including food liability), complex/ mass torts, insurance, premises liability, auto liability, construction, and general negligence matters. He has managed, tried, or otherwise successfully defended numerous significant product liability, transportation, toxic tort, and complex tort c...

A founding member of Christian & Small, Eddie was a long time partner with its predecessor firm, Rives & Peterson, and has been trying cases in federal and state court for more than 30 years. Eddie’s experience includes retail and premises liability, transportation, product liability, pharmaceutical litigation, medical malpractice, and a variety of insurance cases. He combines his courtroom expertise and knowledge with the best technology available, efficient management of rigor...

Geoffrey serves as the office managing partner of the New York office and is vice chair of the firm's Transportation & Trade Practice. He focuses on U.S. and non-U.S. flag shipping matters, and all aspects of asset-based lending, including ship and aircraft finance and equipment leasing. He routinely advises vessel owners and operators, as well as financial institutions in connection with U.S., Marshall Island, Liberian and Vanuatu maritime and corporate laws. He also provides maritime ad...

Shannon Frankel is a trucking industry attorney with a proven track record. For more than 18 years, Shannon defended trucking companies, regularly handling multi-million-dollar claims in both the state and federal courts of North Carolina. During her time on the defense, she learned how the trucking industry views and handles catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, developing relationships with numerous industry executives, national counsel, and expert witnesses along the way. Her exper...

Jill Gerdrum is a civil litigator with a practice focused on product liability, transportation, premises liability, insurance defense, professional liability, and employment law. Jill’s product liability experience includes claims related to farm equipment, RV component parts, engine components, loading dock equipment, lawn mowers, medical supplies, livestock feed, and underground fuel tanks. In the transportation and premises liability arenas, she represents trucking companies, insurer...

John Jerry Glas is the Chair of the Civil Litigation Department at Deutsch Kerrigan and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has tried 114 civil or criminal trials, including 76 jury trials and 38 judge trials. Jerry has been admitted pro hac vice in 11 different states and had success on both sides of the aisle. In 2021, as lead trial counsel for the plaintiff (Lindale Pipeline, LLC), Jerry obtained a $26 million verdict in Houston. In 2012, as lead trial counsel for the def...

John Graham’s practice includes a significant amount of personal injury litigation, much of which is involved in the regular representation of Norfolk Southern Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies. He also has a general litigation practice in which he has represented a number of companies and businesses in various commercial disputes. He has extensive experience in jury trials as well as appellate practice in both state and federal courts. Mr. Graham has been assign...

Dale Hightower was born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, a town between Tampa and Orlando. He grew up loving adventures on the water, paddling a canoe and fishing alone in nearby lakes. His leadership skills became apparent in his youth as he was an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts, Senior Class President at Lakeland High School, and Student Body President at Florida Southern College. He also was elected Student Body President at Cumberland Law School in Alabama. After law school, he began worki...

Dana is a litigator, advisor and defender of the transportation, long term care and electric industries. As a litigation team member at Young Moore and Henderson since 1990, Dana has evolved her law practice from the defense of automobile cases for insurance companies to complex defense litigation for motor carriers, nursing homes, and rural electric cooperatives. Her day-to-day activities involve accident scene investigations, consultation with industry or medical experts, and analysis of fa...

Grady Hurley is a partner in and co-leader of the maritime litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution team and co-chair of the Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources Industry Team. Since 1979, he has focused on maritime, oilfield, and energy litigation. Grady has broad-ranging dispute resolution and transactional experience at the intersection of energy and maritime law, including in areas such as offshore energy exploration, production, and distribution, where a range of complex ...

Mr. Kelley’s primary career focus has evolved over the years beginning with an extensive general liability and insurance defense practice. He has considerable experience handling several specialty claim areas including transportation law, professional liability, product liability, construction negligence, construction defect, commercial trucking, employer intentional tort and community association claims. Steve’s practice remains broad based and includes defense of architects, eng...

Kerri Kobbeman works primarily in the litigation, labor and employment, and corporate practice groups. Ms. Kobbeman has been engaged in a broad range of labor and employment matters, including the defense of wrongful discharge and discrimination actions as well the enforcement of contractual covenants relating to employment obligations. Ms. Kobbeman has defended clients in a number of FLSA class/Collective actions, a WARN Act class action, and multiple single-plaintiff retaliation and discrim...

Becky has a diverse litigation practice with focus on disputes involving alternative dispute resolution; construction; dram shop; healthcare; insurance coverage; premises liability; product liability; and commercial transportation and trucking. She is a Fellow in Litigation Counsel of America; and a member of International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC); American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and Trial Attorneys of America (TAA). ADMISSIONS South Carolina Bar U.S. District Court for...

Neil is a partner in Cox Wootton Lerner Griffin & Hansen, LLP (CWL), a regional law firm serving the Western U.S. and Pacific Rim. He practices maritime and transportation law. He’s been designated a Southern California "Super Lawyer" for 2012-2024 and been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2021. He represents domestic and foreign insurers in first and third-party cases, and local maritime and transportation companies in business litigation. Neil has been featured in the L...

Luis Llamas is a partner in the Maritime Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation, admiralty disputes, trade secret and non-compete disputes, and international law. Luis co-leads the firm's Latin America working group and is the head of the firm’s Miami office. Luis is a highly respected litigator. Luis has handled cases across the United States involving marine casualties, trade secret and non-compete agreements, breach of contract, unfair trade pra...

Sean W. Martin is a shareholder in the Chattanooga (TN) office of Carr Allison. An accomplished attorney with experience in diverse areas of the law, Sean has served as counsel to clients in Tennessee and Georgia in the construction, insurance, retail and hospitality and transportation industries. He has successfully handled cases regarding product liability, professional liability, commercial litigation, environmental and workers’ compensation. Sean is AV Preeminent ® rated through...

George Mencio, Jr. is the firm wide Co-Leader of the International and Cross Border Transactions practice group. He practices principally in the areas of corporate and international law, with emphasis on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint venture transactions, dispute resolution, and administrative matters relating to international trade and commerce and the transportation industry. His clients include multinational concerns in the transportation, tourism, mining and agricultural...

A focused practice in the defense of various professionals including lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents and brokers for claims of malpractice, errors and omissions, as well as professional licensing issues. In addition to his professional liability practice, Joe has significant experience handling commercial trucking (long haul and short haul) as well as commercial coach carrier matters. His practice also includes litigation of insurance coverage and bad faith issues, various general ...

Mr. Nicoson’s practice focuses primarily on products liability, insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, commercial litigation, personal injury defense (premises/auto/trucking), defense of governmental entities and governmental immunity claims, toxic tort, and medical negligence. He actively practices before state and federal courts and has tried over a dozen matters and arbitration proceedings to verdict, including multiple jury trials. He is also an experienced appellate practitio...

Christopher R. Nolan is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's New York office and serves as co-chair of the firm's Transportation and Infrastructure Industry Sector Group. Mr. Nolan has spent the past decade settling or mediating cases to resolution before filing a suit, before end of fact discovery in filed cases, before the end of expert discovery, before trial, and all the moments in between in regard to court cases and arbitrations around the world. When the opposing counsel or ...

Tom Oliver, a founding shareholder at Carr Allison, is a trial attorney specializing in complex matters involving transportation, employment and professional litigation. He has litigated cases in the state and federal courts of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia. Tom is designated as regional and statewide counsel for numerous companies and their insurers. He developed the firm’s accident response GO TEAM and coordinates catastrophic accident investigations for various transpo...

Member Mike Parks has more than 25 years of experience in trucking, transportation and automobile defense, general casualty and insurance defense, premises liability, products liability, and maritime litigation. As supported by the peer honors he has received, including Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Rating, inclusion in Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers and New Orleans Magazine Top Lawyers, Mike has developed a reputation as a highly skilled trial attorney in transportation and insurance defense li...

Nadia Patrick is a trial lawyer with experience in litigating complex cases at the state and federal levels. She focuses her practice on civil litigation with an emphasis in catastrophic casualty, transportation law (including trucking and railroad defense), employment law, and toxic tort defense. Her unique experience allows her to help employers navigate workplace accidents, regulatory inspections, personal liability investigations, and crisis management and prevention. Nadia represents For...

With over 15 years of litigation experience in both state and federal courts in Alabama and more than 70 trials to verdict, it goes without saying that Jim Pattillo is comfortable in the courtroom. He focuses his practice on matters involving insurance coverage and bad faith liability, business and commercial litigation, professional and product liability, class action, toxic torts, and transportation. He is a frequent speaker and writer in the areas of trial practice and technique, litigatio...