Law School News

Class of 2023 Alabama Law Foundation Fellows. Courtesy of Alabama Law Foundation

The Alabama Law Foundation has announced its newest class of Fellows. The Fellows “provide leadership and support for the Alabama Foundation’s programs that promote access to justice.” Each year, current Alabama Law Foundation Fellows have the opportunity to nominate a fellow member of the Alabama State Bar. The nominations are then reviewed by a committee made up of Fellows, who ultimately decide who comprises the incoming class. Alabama Law Foundation Fellows represent the best of the legal profession in Alabama, as no more than 1% of Bar members may become Fellows.

Members of the 2023 Alabama Law Foundation that are graduates of the University of Alabama School of Law include:

Donald Keith Andress (’06) (Birmingham) – Burr & Forman, Partner

Hon. Spiro Nicholas Cheriogotis (’11) (Mobile) – 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama, District Judge

Hon. Samarria Munnerlyn Dunson (’03) (Montgomery) – Balch & Bingham, Of Counsel; Dunson Group, Owner; City of Montgomery Municipal Judge

Erin Brook Fleming (’03) (Daphne) – Stone Crosby, Attorney

Alexandra Katsimpalis Garrett (’07) (Mobile) – Silver Voit & Garrett, Partner

Dennis Mitchell Henry (’93) (Montgomery) – Faulkner University, President

Michael Ralph Holberg (’93) (Montgomery) – Holberg & Holberg, Owner

Cason Michael Kirby (’12) (Birmingham) – Campbell Partners, Partner

Robert Scott Lewis (’96) (Bay Minette) – Stone Crosby, Attorney

George Autry Smith, II (’91) (Huntsville) – Bradley Arant Boult & Cummings, Partner

Halron Waites Turner (’84) (Chatom) – Turner Onderdonk Kimbrough Howell Huggins & Bradley, Managing Partner

Mary Angela Turner (’89) (Tuscaloosa) – Turner Law Group, Partner

Alabama Law recognizes these outstanding attorneys for their contributions and commitment to bettering the legal profession in the State of Alabama and beyond.

Read the Alabama Law Foundation’s press release: https://www.alabamalawfoundation.org/reports-news/press-releases/alabama-law-foundation-announces-selection-of-2023-fellows/

Tuscaloosa, AL—Balch & Bingham—a corporate law firm based in Birmingham—pledged $500,000 to the University of Alabama School of Law to establish the Balch & Bingham Endowed Roundtable in Law and Business.

This roundtable is designed to bring together legal scholars, business practitioners, and persons engaged in enterprise to discuss issues, opportunities, and areas of concern at the intersection of law and business.

“Our Firm has a special relationship with the University and the School of Law,” said Stan Blanton, managing partner at Balch & Bingham. “We are proud to endow the Roundtable in Law and Business, which will only enhance the School of Law’s top tier programs in business law.”

The Balch & Bingham Endowed Roundtable in Law and Business builds upon the robust business law offerings already available to students at Alabama Law including: established externships for credit with notable corporate partners, a JD/MBA dual-degree program, an entrepreneurship & nonprofit legal clinic, an endowed lecture series, endowed professorships, an endowed support fund, and a curriculum that offers an advanced education in corporate governance, securities, finance, banking, antitrust, and mergers and acquisitions. Through the generous support of alumni and friends, the School of Law continues to broaden its offerings for students interested in studying law and business.

“We are enormously grateful for the contributions made by Balch & Bingham and by so many others who are helping us build upon our current program in business law at the School of Law,” said Dean Mark E. Brandon and incoming Dean William S. Brewbaker III. “Their generous support makes it possible for our students to gain valuable experience, knowledge, and skills that are essential to flourishing at the highest levels within business settings upon graduation.”

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About Balch & Bingham

Balch & Bingham LLP is a corporate law firm recognized nationally for its genuine dedication to its clients, forward-thinking approach and ability to anticipate what is on the horizon. Since 1922, the firm has earned the respect and loyalty of clients by providing counsel in regulated industries, including energy, financial services and healthcare, as well as through its practices in business, environmental, government relations, labor and employment and litigation. Named one of America’s top trusted corporate law firms by Forbes, Balch & Bingham includes more than 200 attorneys throughout the Southeast, Texas and Washington, D.C., who are known for leveraging collaboration, creativity and practicality to solve complex legal challenges. For more information, visit balch.com.

About The University of Alabama School of Law

For more than 150 years, the University of Alabama School of Law has produced attorneys who become leaders locally, nationally and globally. Alabama Law provides a top-rate education that results in enviable bar passage and employment rates, all within a supportive and diverse environment. Our low student-to-faculty ratio paired with robust curricular offerings draws students to study under faculty who are skilled teachers as well as leading researchers and scholars. For more information, visit law.ua.edu.

Professors Amy Kimpel and Daiquiri Steele each presented at the Richmond University School of Law Junior Faculty Forum last month. The Junior Faculty Forum is an opportunity for junior law school faculty from around the country to come together and receive constructive feedback from their peers.

Professor Kimpel presented her draft, Outsider Prosecutions, about Texas’s border enforcement program, Operation Lone Star. Professor Steele presented her draft, Integrating Interference, on the interference theory of retaliation. Click here to read more about the Faculty Forum.