Sharon Stuart devotes her practice to civil trial work and arbitration. Focusing on complex commercial and insurance litigation, Sharon also handles a variety of pharmaceutical and medical device products liability litigation as national, regional or local counsel. Her trial experience includes a wide range of business tort claims, contract disputes, commercial and insurance fraud and bad faith suits, and wrongful death cases. She has defended dozens of class action lawsuits in areas as diverse as financial products, insurance, product liability/toxic tort and employment law.

Sharon is active in local and state bar organizations, having served on numerous bar committees. She previously chaired the Civil Courts Procedures and Ethics committees of the Birmingham Bar Association, and currently serves on the Long Range Planning Committee. Sharon is chair of the Amicus Curiae committee of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association, and serves on the board of directors of Attorneys Insurance Mutual of the South, an attorney malpractice insurance company. Sharon is also an active member of the community, serving on the board of directors of the Literacy Council of Central Alabama and is vice-chair of the WBHM Public Radio Community Advisory Board. She teaches an adult Sunday school class at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church.

Education:

  • Samford University, 1987, B.S. (Dean's List)
  • Samford University Cumberland School of Law, 1990, J.D. (ABA National Trial Advocacy Team; Cumberland Law Review, Associate Editor)
  • Judicial Clerkship, – Honorable Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, Chief Judge United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama

Admissions:

  • Texas, 1990
  • Alabama, 1992
  • United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
  • United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama

Professional and Community Involvement:

  • Alabama Law Foundation, Fellow
  • International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC): Co-Chair of Diversity Programs; Co-Chair for Newsletter, Insurance and Reinsurance Committee; Member, Class Actions and Multi-Party Litigation Comittee; Member, Drug, Device and Biotech Committee
  • Alabama Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA): Chair, Amicus CuriaeCommittee, 2010-present
  • Birmingham Bar Association: Member, Long Range Planning Committee (2010-present); Chairman, Civil Courts Procedures Committee (2008); Public Service Committee (2004); Chairman, Ethics Committee (2002-2003); Grievance Committee Young Lawyers Representative (1996)
  • Defense Research Institute (DRI): Women in the Law Committee, member of the Steering Committee; Vice-Chair of the State Liaisons, 2013-2014
  • Master Bencher, American Inns of Court – Birmingham, Alabama;  Master Bencher, Judge James Edwin Horton American Inns of Court; Master Bencher and member of the Formation Committee, Cumberland School of Law Inn, American Inns of Court
  • Attorneys Insurance Mutual of the South, Risk Retention Group: Member, Board of Directors, and currently serving on the Executive, Underwriting and Marketing Committees of the Board
  • Leadership Birmingham: Class of 2012
  • Cumberland School of Law: Member, Dean’s Advisory BoardAmerican Bar Association (ABA): Member
  • WBHM Public Radio 90.3 FM, Birmingham’s National Public Radio affiliate: Vice-Chairman, Community Advisory Board and Friends Advisory Board
  • Member of the Executive Committee of Christian & Small, 2001-2006, 2009-2011
  • Literacy Council of Central Alabama: Member, Board of Directors, 2006-2012
  • Adult Sunday School teacher, Dawson Memorial Baptist Church

Awards and Recognition:

  • AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell*
  • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009 – 2014 in the categories of commercial litigation, labor & employment litigation, securities litigation, product liability litigation, mass tort litigation/class actions and insurance law
  • Selected for inclusion in Alabama Super Lawyers® 2010-2014 in the fields of business litigation, insurance coverage, product liability defense
  • Selected for inclusion in Top 25 Women Alabama Super Lawyers ® 2010-2013
  • Selected for inclusion in Benchmark Litigation’s list of Alabama Future Litigation Stars 2009-2011
  • Selected for inclusion in Benchmark Appellate as Eleventh Circuit Litigation Star in Alabama  2012 and 2013
  • Selected for inclusion in Benchmark Top 250 Women in Litigation 2012 and 2013
  • Listed in the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Best of the Birmingham Bar” in Insurance Law

Publications and Presentations:

  • “How Lawyers Use Financial Information,” in Basics of Accounting & Finance: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know (PLI Corp. Law & Practice, Course Handbook Ser. No. B-1406, 2004).
  • “Making Sure It All Adds Up: Preventing, Indentifying, and Litigating Financial Fraud Cases,” in Basics of Accounting & Finance: What Every Practicing Lawyer Needs to Know (PLI Corp. Law & Practice, Course Handbook Ser. No. B-1354, 2003).
  • Sharon Donaldson Stuart & James R. Bussian, Civil Procedure Update: A Survey of Recent Case Law Interpreting the Rules, 58 The Alabama Lawyer (March 1997).
  • Michael V. Abcarian & Sharon A. Donaldson, The Battle Against Substance Abuse in the Workplace: A Survey of Current Regulatory Issues, 11 Miss. C. L. Rev. 201 (1991).
  • Comment, Section Six of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act Amendments of 1988: A New Ethical Standard in Government Contracting?, 20 Cumb. L. Rev. 421 (1990), reprinted in 21-90, Government Contracts Service, F-1 (1990).

Areas of Practice:

  • Civil Litigation
  • Class Action & Complex Litigation
  • Extra-Contractual & Bad Faith Liability
  • Insurance
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Labor and Employment
  • Medical Device
  • Product Liability
  • Securities and Financial Services Litigation

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