Todd is a problem-solver, trial attorney, and trusted counsel for insurance carriers and institutions in Alabama and Mississippi. Previously with an international insurance firm in Chicago, Todd has lived in Alabama for years where he now serves his clients here in the South. Todd maintains strong working relationships with clients. He understands the realities and pressures clients face with modern litigation trends and serves to manage risk through timely and thorough evaluations, real-time and reporting, candid and actionable analysis, and recommending efficient resolution strategies. Todd and his team further see success before juries as his clients trust him to first-chair trials (including catastrophic and high-exposure matters) while securing dispositive motion wins throughout the country, but more recently in Alabama and Mississippi.

Todd and his team are regularly retained to handle complex construction defect and trade-related professional liability matters in the South, with a practice specialty focus on both defending against and prosecuting indemnity claims as part of comprehensive risk transfer strategies for owners, contractors, engineers, and professionals.  With this focus, Todd is regularly called upon to handle the defense of complex subrogation claims and property losses, from rapid-response investigations to handling matters through litigation up to trial.

Along with his team, Todd further represents clients in the defense of all aspects of injury litigation, from managing the relatively minor to defending against catastrophic and wrongful death matters.  He great pride at the responsibility placed in him to regularly represent clients across the full spectrum of litigated claims and issues, including:

  • Construction
  • Premises and General Liability
  • Insurance Coverage/Bad Faith
  • Commercial Transportation
  • Product Liability
  • Environmental/Toxic Tort
  • Professional Liability

Outside of his practice, Todd is happily married to his wife, an elementary school teacher, and they have three energetic children, a girl, and twin boys.  He tries to golf when he has the time, does his best as an amateur BBQ pitmaster, coaches his kids’ sports, and endures the punishment (and enjoys the more recent success) of being a lifelong Detroit Lions fan.

Professional and Community Involvement

  • Defense Research Institute (DRI): Member; Insurance Coverage Practice Symposium, Vice-Chair
  • Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM): Member
  • Loss Executive Association (LEA)
  • Mississippi Bar Association: Member
  • Birmingham Bar Association: Member

Awards and Recognition

  • Recognized by Chambers USA as Up & Coming in the field of Litigation: General Commercial, 2022-2023
  • Named a 2025 Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation
  • Selected for inclusion by The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Insurance Law and Litigation -Insurance

Representative Experience

  • Motion to Dismiss granted in a 7-figure fire loss subrogation suit in Madison County, Alabama
  • First-chair trial counsel, pursuing subrogation on behalf of and international specialty insurance carrier, secured a $4.6 million jury verdict in Etowah County, Alabama.
  • First chair trial counsel in a high-stakes case defending a commercial auto mechanic against over 20 professionally employed Plaintiffs with severe injuries, facing the risk of a “nuclear verdict” and negotiated a favorable outcome for the client following a two-week jury trial in Alabama state court.
  • Motion for Summary Judgment granted for roofing client in Alabama in Lauderdale County, Alabama , successfully arguing Plaintiffs had no direct enforceable rights against the client under Cincinnati Ins. Cos. v. Barber Insulation, Inc., 946 So. 2d 441, 443 (Ala. 2006), and that the claims were otherwise barred by the Economic Loss Doctrine.
  • Motion to Dismiss granted on statute of limitations grounds for a national, high-profile, facility services provider in Etowah County, Alabama.
  • Motion for Summary Judgment granted for a poultry processing client on Title VII claims of retaliation and racial, sexual, and pregnancy discrimination in the Northern District of Alabama.
  • Motion to Dismiss granted for national hotel chain in Morgan County, Alabama against negligence, wantonness.
  • Motion for Summary Judgment granted in the Southern District of Alabama for a national loss remediation provider.
  • Obtained summary judgment for a poultry processing client on Title VII claims of retaliation and racial, sexual, and pregnancy discrimination in the Northern District of Alabama.
  • Zero-payment dismissal for a well-known, national client, in a high-exposure injury matter.
  • Secured a nominal settlement for a trucking client and carrier in a difficult liability matter with Plaintiffs seeking eight-figure punitive damages based upon allegations of wanton and reckless behavior.
  • Represented an insurance agent and successfully obtained dismissal on a negligent procurement claim with Plaintiff seeking in excess of $20 million in damages.
  • Successfully recovered a confidential seven-figure subrogation recovery for the property insurer of a large manufacturing facility that sustained damages from an electrical fire caused by an international component supplier.
  • Obtained summary judgment for a European manufacturer on a product liability claim in a subrogation lawsuit over damages stemming from the alleged improper design and construction of a sewage water treatment plant.
  • Negotiated the dismissal, without payment, of an insurer in a protracted coverage matter with multiple parties, spanning three related lawsuits, concerning the repair and mold remediation efforts at a hotel construction project.
  • Recovered $890,000 for a subrogated insurer and apartment complex owner against a flooring contractor who ignited a quick-spreading fire through the negligent application of polyurethane floor sealant.
  • Successfully defended an insurance agent and obtained dismissal on claims of breach of contract and bad faith in a commercial policy insurance denial lawsuit.
  • Defended and negotiated a nominal, cost of defense settlement, on behalf of an international engineering firm in a lawsuit filed by a plaintiff who sustained life-threatening spinal cord injuries while riding a rollercoaster.

Reported Decisions

  • Engel v. Liberty Ins. Corp., No. 20-00082-KD-N, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20345 (S.D. Ala.2022)
  • Young v. Alatrade Foods, LLC, No. 2:18-CV-00455-KOB, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152213 (N.D. Ala. 2019)
  • Energy Sys. Grp., LLC v. Ware, Inc., No. 1:14-CV-03049-ELR, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183107 (N.D. Ga. 2016)
  • El Dorado Chem. Co. v. L&L Indus. Servs., No. 15-CV-1034, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23089 (W.D. Ark. 2016)
  • Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy, LLC v. Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission, LLC, No. 14-1236-JTM, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177627 (D. Kan. 2014)
  • LBM Realty, LLC v. Mannia, 19 N.E.3d 379 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014)
  • Maui Elec. Co. v. Chromalloy Gas Turbine, Ltd. Liab. Co., 942 F. Supp. 2d 1035, 1037 (D. Haw. 2013)

Practice Areas:

  • Business and Commercial Litigation
  • Civil Litigation
  • Cyber and Data Breach Liability
  • Environmental and Toxic Tort
  • Extra-Contractual & Bad Faith Liability
  • Health Care
  • Insurance
  • Labor and Employment
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice
  • Transportation

Education:

  • Miami University, 2001, Bachelor of Science, Accounting and Finance
  • The John Marshall Law School, 2009, J.D.
  • Honorable Society of Kings Inn, Dublin Ireland, 2008

Admissions:

  • Alabama
  • Illinois
  • Mississippi
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois