
About Us

Our Mission & Areas of Focus
The mission of the Alabama Association for Justice is to preserve and protect the constitutional right to a trial by jury guaranteed by the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution by ensuring that every person or business harmed or injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can hold wrongdoers accountable in the one room where everyone is equal – the courtroom.
Areas of Focus:
Eliminate civil justice restrictions.
Provide our members with excellent educational opportunities.
Strengthen the civil justice system.
Support adequate court funding.
Participate in the selection and election of a qualified and impartial judiciary.
Work in campaigns and the Legislature to positively affect the discourse of public policy.
Officers
(2025-2026)

Clint Mountain
President
Clint Mountain is the managing partner at Mountain & Mountain in Tuscaloosa. He graduated from The University of Alabama with a major in business management in 2000 and the University of Alabama Law School in 2003. Clint has handled a wide variety of personal injury cases ranging from trucking wrecks and medical malpractice to civil rights and various immunity issues with the State of Alabama. Clint is a member of the AAJ, Tuscaloosa County Bar Association, City of Tuscaloosa Framework and Steering Committee, University of Alabama Law School Foundation Board of Governors, Farrah Alumni Society, and is admitted to all state and federal courts in Alabama and Mississippi. Clint currently serves as a deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa and serves on numerous local boards. He is married to Lindsay and they have one daughter, Julia.

Lucy Tufts
President-Elect
Lucy E. Tufts is a partner with Cunningham Bounds, LLC in Mobile. An Alabama native, she graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in the top 5% of her class. Her areas of practice include business litigation, complex litigation, product liability, industrial accidents and wrongful death. Lucy is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and is a Certified Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Lucy has obtained over $300 million in verdicts, judgments and settlements in the last ten years. She is licensed in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.

Derrick Mills
1st Vice President
Derrick A. Mills is a partner with Marsh, Rickard & Bryan in Birmingham, where he handles all types of civil litigation on behalf of plaintiffs, including product liability, insurance fraud and bad faith, wrongful death and medical malpractice. Derrick is a former Alabama State Bar Commissioner, former Alabama State Bar Committee member, Past President of the Magic City Bar Association, and he has been annually recognized as a Super Lawyer for the State of Alabama and the Mid-South. While Derrick has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts, judgments, and settlements on behalf of his clients, he is most proud of giving back to the community. Derrick and his wife, Tamesha, created a foundation and award thousands annually to students at Fayette High School, the University of North Alabama, and the University of Alabama School of Law.

Christina D. Crow
2nd Vice President
Christy practices product liability and personal injury law with Jinks Crow, P.C. While practicing primarily in Alabama and Georgia, Christy has been involved in litigation throughout the country during her 26-year career, representing individuals and families whose lives have been impacted by the wrongful acts of others. Christy was the President of the Alabama State Bar in 2019-2020 and is currently serving as the Secretary of ALAJ and the President-Elect of the Southeastern Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (SEABOTA). She was recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America and is a fierce advocate for mental health awareness in the legal profession. She is married to Van Wadsworth and they have three children and a son-in-law.

Robert "Bo" Bruner
Secretary
Bo is a member of Belt, Bruner & Barnett in Birmingham. Bo focuses his practice on complex personal injury and wrongful death cases, including products liability claims, construction related injuries, commercial vehicle cases and medical malpractice. He and his firm have also developed a niche practice handling third-party negligent / bad faith failure to settle claims against liability insurers on behalf of defendants financially devastated by verdicts in excess of their insurance coverage. Bo is board certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. In addition to board certification, Bo has been recognized as among the “Top 50: Alabama Super Lawyers” and included in The Best Lawyers in America for his work in product liability litigation. He also holds the “AV Preeminent” rating conferred by the national legal publication Martindale-Hubbell.

Nathan Harris
Treasurer
E. Nathan Harris is the CEO of Abogados Centro Legal in Hoover and focuses his practice on immigrant’s rights. Nathan leads a bilingual & bicultural team dedicated to advocating for Alabama’s Latino and immigrant communities. Nathan oversees a growing team that handles immigration and personal injury cases and frequently consults with other firms on complex matters involving immigrant clients. Nathan serves on multiple non-profit boards, including HICA and FIESTA, and holds appointments with multiple committees under the Alabama State Bar and Alabama Supreme Court. He is a graduate of the UAB School of Business and the University of Alabama School of Law. He and his wife Kacey have three children—Abby, Ellie, and Abe—and enjoy traveling the world with their family.

Ben Baker
Immediate Past President
Ben Baker is a principal with Beasley Allen and his practice focuses on product liability and crashworthiness cases. He is a Sustaining and Executive Committee member of ALAJ and a member of the American Association for Justice, Montgomery County Bar, and the Southern Trial Lawyers Association. Ben has also been included in Super Lawyers consistently since 2010 and Best Lawyers since 2013. He has also recently published a book titled "Tire Litigation: A Primer." Ben is married to Kimberly Baker and they have three children. He is also admitted to practice law in Georgia, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Washington D.C.
Board of Directors
(2025-2026)

Ginger Avery
Alabama Association for Justice
Executive Team




Our History
ALAJ has been a constant, powerful influence for more than half a century. Leaders in generation after generation have stood up on behalf of their brethren to better their profession. The names echo in the annals of our state’s history – Hare, Hogan, Cunningham, Heflin, Hobbs, Hornsby, Cook.
According to the history written by the late Francis H. Hare, Sr., who served as president from 1954-1955, the late W. E. Brobston of Bessemer had this dream of a better civil justice system for the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s attorney. He brought his dream to fruition in 1953 when he founded the Alabama Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Association, known as the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, and served as the Association’s first president. In effect, it was the Alabama Branch of the National Association of Claimants Compensation Attorneys (founded in 1946), which was known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Our first publication was called the APLA Bulletin. In April 1953, the first APLA Bulletin was printed. It consisted of only five pages plus one and a half pages listing the membership as of March 14, 1953. ATLA’s first printed issue of the Journal was in 1957. In this Journal, Francis Hare, Sr. and Ed Brobston were asked to write a brief statement on what our Association stands for. This is what they wrote:
“It is the purpose of this Association to maintain the practice of personal injury law on the loftiest plain from the standpoint of skill and integrity.”
In October 1973, we began a bi-monthly newsletter and established a political trust fund known as Trust Representing Involved Alabama Lawyers (TRIAL). On August 6, 1974, the American Trial Lawyers Association selected the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association as the “Most Outstanding State Association.”
In June 2007, the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association changed its name to the Alabama Association for Justice. The name “Trial Lawyers Association” was what we called ourselves and did not reflect what we did. Our mission is not about helping ourselves, but rather about protecting and strengthening the civil justice system for everyone. Our name should be about what we do, not who we are.
Past ALAJ Presidents
Presidents of the Alabama Association for Justice serve a one year term acting as the standard-bearer for the Trial Lawyer profession. Their responsibilities include overseeing the activities of the other officers, heading the association's legislative efforts and ensuring the staff maintain the day to day activities of the organization.

Albert W. Copeland
Deceased
1970-1971

Francis H. Hare, Jr.
Deceased
1971-1972

Ernest C. Hornsby
Birmingham
1972-1973

David B. Cauthen
Deceased
1973-1974

Richard Jordan
Deceased
1974-1975

Edward L. Hardin, Jr.
Birmingham
1975-1976
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Robert L. Byrd, Jr.
Deceased
1976-1977

William W. Smith
Birmingham
1977-1978

Ted Taylor
Deceased
1978-1979

John David Knight
Cullman
1979-1980

Warren L. Hammond, Jr.
Deceased
1980-1981

Lanny S. Vines
Deceased
1981-1982

James A. Yance
Mobile
1982-1983

Ralph Hornsby
Deceased
1983-1984

Alva Caine
Huntsville
1984-1985

Gregory S. Cusimano
Gadsden
1985-1986

Clay Alspaugh
Deceased
1986-1987

L. Andrew Hollis
Birmingham
1987-1988

Larry W. Morris
Alexander City
1988-1989

C. Delaine Mountain
Tuscaloosa
1989-1990

John T. Crowder, Jr.
Mobile
1990-1991

Lloyd W. Gathings, II
Birmingham
1991-1992

John E. Higginbotham
Deceased
1992-1993

W. Lee Pittman
Birmingham
1993-1994

John W. Haley
Birmingham
1994-1995

James R. Knight
Cullman
1995-1996

William L. Utsey
Deceased
1996-1997

James R. Pratt, III
Birmingham
1997-1998

Gregory B. Breedlove
Mobile
1998-1999

Keith Givens
Dothan
1999-2000

Tyrone Means
Deceased
2000-2001

Randall Haynes
Alexander City
2001-2002

Kenneth W. Hooks
Birmingham
2002-2003

David Marsh
Birmingham
2003-2004

Tom Edwards
Montgomery
2004-2005

Scott Powell
Birmingham
2005-2006

Ralph Cook
Birmingham
2006-2007

Robert F. Prince
Deceased
2007-2008

C. Gibson Vance
Montgomery
2008-2009

Toby D. Brown
Mobile
2009-2010

G. Courtney French
Birmingham
2010-2011

Rebekah Keith McKinney
Huntsville
2011-2012

Clay Hornsby
Birmingham
2012-2013

Jeff Rickard
Birmingham
2013-2014

Mike Ermert
Deceased
2014-2015

Josh Wright
Birmingham
2015-2016

Ken Riley
Birmingham
2016-2017

Frank Woodson
Montgomery
2017-2018

Steve Nicholas
Mobile
2018-2019

Joshua P. Hayes
Tuscaloosa
2019-2020

Rip Andrews
Birmingham
2020-2021

Gina D. Coggin
Gadsden
2021-2022

Erik D. Heninger
Birmingham
2022-2023

Wes Laird
Opp
2023-2024

Ben Baker
Montgomery
2024-2025