Category Archives: Uncategorized

Firm shareholders named “Super Lawyers” for 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that four shareholders have been named to the 2021 Mid-South Super Lawyers list, and two additional attorneys have been included on the list of 2021 Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

Attorneys named as 2021 Mid-South Super Lawyers are:

Stephen R. Arnold
Kitty Rogers Brown
Augusta S. Dowd
J. Mark White

Arnold was recognized in Family Law, Brown in White Collar Defense, and Dowd and White in General Litigation. Dowd was additionally named to the “Top 50 Women,” “Top 50 Alabama,” and “Top 50 Birmingham” lists for 2021. Shareholder W. Chambers Waller was named a 2021 Florida Super Lawyers Rising Star and attorney Jackson Neal was named as a 2021 Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star.

Super Lawyers rates outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual, state-by-state selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. According to Super Lawyers, “the objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.” Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the Mid-South are selected by the research team for selection as Super Lawyers, and no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in Mid-South 40 years old or younger or who have been in practice for 10 or fewer years are selected as Rising Stars. The Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars will be listed in the December 2021 Mid-South Super Lawyers Magazine and B-Metro magazine and the Florida Super Lawyers Rising Stars will be listed in the December 2021 Florida Super Lawyers Magazine.

About White Arnold & Dowd P.C.: From high-profile litigation to mediation and private disputes, the attorneys at AV-rated White Arnold & Dowd P.C. excel at finding creative strategies to minimize disruptions and help our clients keep moving forward in business and in life. We have a plan for the unplanned. For more information, visit www.whitearnolddowd.com.

Contact:
Lisha L. Graham
205-323-1888
[email protected]

Lisha Graham Named 2021 NextGenBHM: Law Honoree

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that shareholder Lisha Graham has been selected as one of the honorees in the Birmingham Business Journal’s 2021 NextGenBHM: Law special section. Per the Birmingham Business Journal, “honorees were chosen based on their contributions to their firms and their potential to shape the industry, and the Magic City’s legal world, moving forward.”

A graduate of Auburn University and the Cumberland School of Law, where she led the National Trial Team to National and Regional Championships, Ms. Graham represents clients in various areas of civil defense litigation with a primary focus on insurance defense. Through her practice, she has represented general contractors and subcontractors in various types of construction litigation and indemnity actions. She also represents both companies and individuals in a variety of commercial cases, including premises liability, breach of contract, negligence, and products liability. In the products liability defense area, Ms. Graham has represented manufacturers, distributors, sellers, and installers against negligence and strict liability claims based upon alleged product defects which resulted in injuries or death. Additionally, Ms. Graham represents both plaintiffs and defendants in financial litigation, business torts, and fraud cases. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Alabama State Bar’s Young Lawyers Section, is the co-founder and president of the Alabama Pacific Asian Bar Association, regularly volunteers at the First Light Homeless Shelter, and is a former member and secretary of the YWCA Central Alabama’s Junior Board.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

Kitty Rogers Brown Tapped for Leadership Birmingham

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that shareholder Kitty Rogers Brown has been selected as a member of the 2021-2022 Class of Leadership Birmingham, one of the Birmingham’s premier leadership and educational opportunities. Since 1982, Leadership Birmingham has identified and cultivated groups of approximately 50 leaders each year from diverse backgrounds. The program’s stated purpose is to “ensure that leaders in the community are educated about current issues and challenges in our region” with the goal of seeing its graduates “are better equipped with information and networks to be more effective as leaders.” Ms. Brown joins firm shareholders J. Mark White (2005) and Augusta S. Dowd (2007), who are also Leadership Birmingham graduates.

Ms. Brown represents individual and corporate defendants in white collar criminal actions, primarily in the areas of healthcare fraud, financial crimes, and environmental crimes, as well as in parallel civil and criminal proceedings. She also represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation as well as pharmaceutical and environmental tort actions, whistleblower cases, healthcare matters, consumer class actions, and handles executive severance and compensation matters.

Contact:
Lisha Li Graham
205-323-1888
[email protected]

WAD Attorneys Continue to Serve and Lead in Alabama State Bar

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that Alabama State Bar president Taze Shepard has appointed numerous firm lawyers to Bar Committees and Task Forces for the current Bar year. Hope Marshall will chair the Lawyer in Every Classroom Task Force and she will also work with the Disciplinary Rules & Enforcement Committee and the Lawyer Voices for Survivors Task Force. Kitty Brown will continue to serve on the Bench and Bar Relations Task Force, the Disciplinary Rules and Enforcement Committee, the Governmental Relations Liaison Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion in the Profession Committee. Additionally, Lisha Graham will continue to serve on the Diversity and Inclusion in the Profession Committee as well as the Cuba Task Force, and Laura Gibson will work with the Lawyer Voices for Survivors Task Force. President Shepard also reappointed Curtis Seal to the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

Named Shareholders Recognized as “The Best Lawyers in America”

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that J. Mark White, Stephen R. Arnold, and Augusta S. Dowd have been included in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Now in its 28^th year of publication, Best Lawyers is based entirely on a peer-review process. According to Best Lawyers, “the methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.”

Mr. White was again recognized in the following practice areas:

Bet-the-Company Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Litigation – Environmental
Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
Mediation

Mr. Arnold was named a “Best Lawyer” in Family Law, a distinction he has enjoyed since 1983. Ms. Dowd was again acknowledged for her work in Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Environmental, and Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

W. Chambers Waller IV Named as 2021 Florida “Rising Star”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that shareholder W. Chambers Waller IV has been named to the 2021 Florida Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers. Only 2.5% of attorneys in Florida may receive this honor, which is reserved for attorneys under the age of 40 or who have been in practice 10 years or less who exhibit excellence in the practice of law. Super Lawyers‘ patented, multiphase selection process includes peer nominations, independent research, and peer evaluations. Based in the Firm’s Florida offices, Mr. Waller’s practice is devoted to representing individual and corporate clients in state and federal criminal investigations and prosecutions, state ethics matters, complex civil litigation, and governmental and regulatory affairs matters.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

Curtis H. Seal Named to Birmingham Bar Association’s 2021 Future Leaders Forum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that shareholder Curtis H. Seal has been selected as a member of the Birmingham Bar Association’s 2021 Future Leaders Forum. The Forum seeks to cultivate leaders from among a group of motivated local attorneys who have been in practice for 3-7 years. Recognizing a need for leadership identification and development among Birmingham’s young attorneys relatively early in their careers, a group of Birmingham Bar Association leaders, including White Arnold & Dowd’s Managing Lawyer Augusta S. Dowd, organized the first Forum class in 2009. Since that time, the Forum has emerged as one of the premiere leadership and professional development experiences for lawyers in their early years of practice. White Arnold & Dowd’s Kitty Rogers Brown (2009), Hope S. Marshall (2010), and Lisha L. Graham (2014) are all graduates of the Forum. “Our firm has supported the Forum since its inception, and we are pleased to see Curtis join the ranks of the exceptional young leaders who have participated in the Forum over the years,” said Ms. Dowd. “Curtis will be an engaged member of the class, and he will benefit from the program as well as positively contribute to the experience of his classmates this year.”

Mr. Seal practices in state and federal courts, and has experience in resolving cases through both mediation and arbitration. Mr. Seal’s practice primarily involves civil and complex litigation, representing individuals and corporate clients as plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of cases. He also represents clients in criminal investigations and prosecutions, state ethics matters, and governmental and regulatory affairs matters.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

Augusta S. Dowd Recognized as “Best of the Bar” by Birmingham Business Journal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that shareholder, vice president, and managing lawyer Augusta S. Dowd has been named by the Birmingham Business Journal to its “Best of the Bar” list for 2021. The BBJ selected this year’s winners based on nominations received and “their status within their practice group, their tangible accomplishments, their impact on their firms and their impact on Birmingham and its legal community, among other factors.” When asked her thoughts on a “hot topic” in her practice area, Ms. Dowd shared, “Business interruption cases arising from COVID governmental orders impacting various businesses’ abilities to operate fully are prevalent.”

The entire list of honorees can be viewed here.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

White Arnold & Dowd Expands Florida Presence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce the expansion of its Florida-based operations with the opening of a new office on Amelia Island.

“We are thrilled to expand our presence in Florida with the Amelia Island office,” said the firm’s Managing Lawyer, Augusta Dowd. “In addition to maintaining the firm’s Jacksonville presence, opening an office on Amelia Island will allow us to efficiently support our existing clients and strategically broaden our firm’s reach throughout Northeast Florida. We look forward to providing more companies, individuals, and families in Florida with the outstanding representation that is the hallmark of our firm.”

Firm shareholder Chambers Waller will continue to oversee the firm’s Florida operations. Mr. Waller is licensed to practice law in Alabama and Florida, and his practice is devoted to representing individual and corporate clients in state and federal criminal investigations and prosecutions, ethics matters, complex civil litigation, and governmental and regulatory affairs matters.

White Arnold & Dowd’s new office on Amelia Island is located at 309 1/2 Centre Street, Suite 204, Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034.

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]

WAD Attorneys Help the Next Generation of Lawyers Become Courtroom Ready

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Birmingham, AL – White Arnold & Dowd P.C. is pleased to announce that Cumberland School of Law trial teams coached by firm attorneys have won their respective regional tournaments and will now proceed to compete at the national level. Multiple firm attorneys, including Lisha L. Graham, W. Chambers Waller, IV, Curtis H. Seal, and Craig A. Shirley, are veterans of Cumberland’s nationally-ranked trial team program. Each credits the program for helping develop their courtroom skills and ensure they were prepared to enter the firm’s busy trial practice. They have volunteered time since their respective graduations from Cumberland to serve as coaches and otherwise support the program.

Seal, who serves as a coach for the trial team competing in in the Student Trial Advocacy Competition hosted by the American Association of Justice, was a team member the last time Cumberland advanced to the regional finals of the competition in 2017. Two Cumberland teams competed in the AAJ regional competition this year, meeting each other in the final round. Seal shared, “Cumberland prides itself on a reputation of being one of the best trial advocacy programs in the country. Maintaining that reputation meant getting back to the winner’s circle of this regional competition, which was well overdue.” Seal’s team compiled a 5-0 record during the competition, defeating teams from Tulane School of Law, Mississippi College School of Law, University of Wisconsin School of Law, and St. Thomas University School of Law. Cumberland will be one of sixteen law schools from across the country to compete in the AAJ national competition in April. More information about the AAJ competition and win can be found here.

Shirley coaches Cumberland’s National Trial Competition team this year, which swept Region 8 and earned a berth in the national competition. Like Seal, Shirley is no stranger to trial team success, as he was a member of the National Trial Team that won the 2017 National Civil Trial Competition in Los Angeles. While this year’s team had the additional challenge of virtual competition, Shirley and his fellow coaches led the team to continued success: Cumberland has advanced 15 teams to the national level of the NTC in the last 13 years. This year’s team of second-year students defeated teams from the University of Mississippi School of Law, the University of Memphis Humphrey School of Law, Northern Kentucky University Chase School of Law, and Faulkner University Jones School of Law to earn the opportunity to compete at the national competition in April. More information about the NTC victory can be found here.

The coaching and training that students receive through participating in Cumberland’s trial program uniquely prepares students for the practice of law in ways the classroom alone cannot. Seal observed, “we do not teach and train students how to be good at mock trial. As coaches, our focus is on students becoming good lawyers and the best version of themselves. Cumberland’s mock trial success flows naturally from there.”

Contact:
Kitty Rogers Brown
205-323-1888
[email protected]