Firm Opens Birmingham Office
June 21, 2012. Wilkins Tipton is pleased to announce that the firm has opened an office in Birmingham, Alabama and that Hunter C. Carroll and James M. Smith have joined the firm as shareholders. Christopher L. Shaeffer has also joined as an associate.
"Both Hunter and James are well known and respected in the Alabama legal community and have developed a significant client base in that area," said William A. Patterson, President of the Board of Directors. "We are excited to have them all join the Wilkins Tipton team and we look forward to working with them in the new Birmingham office."
Mr. Carroll graduated cum laude from Samford University in 1993 and from Cumberland School of Law in 1997, where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi and the Henry Upson Sims Moot Court Board. While in law school, he was also a Cordell Hull Fellow and the Research and Writing Editor of the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. He and his wife, Monica, are the proud parents of three children: Adeline, Hunter and Olivia. Mr. Carroll serves on the board of directors for several non-profit organizations, and he and his family are members of Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham. Mr. Carroll's practice areas include nursing home and long-term care defense, medical malpractice defense, products liability and construction defect defense, insurance defense, including coverage, direct actions and bad faith, class actions, municipal liability and personal injury.
Also a cum laude graduate of Samford University in 1990, Mr. Smith is additionally a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1995) and a cum laude graduate of Cumberland School of Law in 1998. He was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Curia Honoris and Order of the Barristers. Mr. Smith was also a Cordell Hull Fellow and managing editor of the Cumberland Law Review. After law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Hugh Maddox, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Alabama. Mr. Smith and his wife, Tas, are the very proud parents of three children: Emily Ann (10), Sam (7) and Abby (4). They are members of Beechwood Baptist Church. Mr. Smith is an avid distance runner and youth soccer coach. His practice areas are insurance coverage, insurance defense, mass tort /class action defense, construction defect, product liability, creditor rights, fraud, bad faith, appellate practice and nursing home and long-term care defense.
Christopher (Chris) Shaeffer graduated cum laude from Samford University in 2001 and from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2005. Mr. Shaeffer and his wife, Rhona, are avid hikers and enjoy cooking. They are members of Shades Crest Baptist Church. Mr. Shaeffer is also involved in Cornerstone Schools of Alabama and Easter Seals of Birmingham. His practice areas include mass tort defense, construction defect, product liability, medical malpractice, appellate practice, insurance defense, insurance coverage, personal injury and automobile liability.