Christian & Small is pleased to announce that the Birmingham Business Journal (BBJ) has recognized Deborah Alley Smith and Daniel D. Sparks as 2021 “Best of the Bar” recognizing attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their fields or specific practice areas and their tangible accomplishments, impact on their firms and their impact on Birmingham and its legal community.
Deborah Alley Smith
Deborah Alley Smith’s practice is focused on post-judgment and appellate litigation. She devotes her time to research and writing and to preparing her partners for trial to ensure that significant issues are preserved in the event of an appeal. When it is necessary to seek post-judgment relief or to appeal (or the opposing side does so), Debbie assists in the post-judgment briefing and presentation and handles the appeal. Additionally, she often participates on trial teams in significant cases with an eye toward preserving issues for appeal, and she is frequently enlisted to handle post-judgment motions and appeals in cases tried by lawyers at other firms – handling appeals in many state and federal courts. Debbie served as the firm’s managing partner for eleven years and currently chairs the Teach for America Alabama Advisory Board.
Debbie’s accomplishments and recognitions include:
- Fellow, American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
- Fellow, The American Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Alabama Law Foundation
- Fellow, Birmingham Bar Foundation
- AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
- Recognized in Chambers USA for Litigation: Appellate (Band 1)
- Selected for inclusion in the 2017 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2007-2020 in the fields of Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation; 2012-2020 in the field of Insurance Law; 2020-2021 in the field of Litigation – Insurance; 2014 Birmingham Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year,” 2011 Birmingham Appellate “Lawyer of the Year”
- Selected for inclusion in Alabama Super Lawyers® in 2008-2015 in the field of appellate law and 2008-2011 in the field of business litigation; in Mid-South Region Super Lawyers in 2016-2020 in the field of appellate law
- Listed as one of the Top 25 Women Super Lawyers in Alabama in 2008-2015; Top 50 Women Mid-South Super Lawyers, 2016-2020; Top 50 Alabama Super Lawyers, 2019-2020, 2011 – 2016; Top 50 Birmingham Super Lawyers, 2019 – 2020
- Selected for inclusion in Benchmark Litigation’s list of Alabama Litigation Future Stars 2011; listed as Local Litigation Star in the field of appellate practice; listed in Top 250 Women in Litigation 2012 – 2014, 2020
Daniel D. Sparks
Dan leads the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group. He focuses his practice on the areas of bankruptcy and business litigation involving creditor’s rights, consumer finance, lender liability, commercial contracts, and injunctive relief. Dan has an AV® Preeminent Peer Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, recognized in Chambers USA for Bankruptcy/Restructuring (Alabama), recognized as an Alabama Super Lawyers® Top 50 Attorneys in Alabama and Top 50 Attorneys in Birmingham, and regularly selected for inclusion by The Best Lawyers in America®
Q. What are the hot topics in your practice area?
A. Whole company sales in Chapter 11 cases
Q. How has Covid-19 impacted your practice area?
A. We attend court now almost exclusively by phone or by video conference. Depositions are similar. Phone and video use are awkward, at best, but they do make attendance at hearings depositions, and mediations significantly less expensive for our clients.
Q. Are there any new types of cases in your practice to arise out of Covid that you haven’t seen before?
A. Tenants suing their insurance carriers for an economic “loss” due to the passing of laws that forced them to close their businesses during the pandemic is certainly new.
Q. What is your most memorable case and why?
A. Oddly, it was a murder case early in my career. I obtained a not guilty verdict. More recently, representing Mission Coal in its bankruptcy case was both challenging and rewarding.
Q. What has been the biggest challenge in the legal field during your career?
A. Technology. When I began practicing law, there were no cell phones, no fax machines, and no desktop personal computer networks in law offices. Now our clients, the court, and opposing attorneys have come to expect an immediate response any time of the day, 24-7.
Q. Who has been the biggest mentor in your legal career?
A. My father, Bill Sparks. He is 90 years old and is a retired lawyer in north Georgia.
Q. Why did you decide to be a lawyer?
A. Because of my father. He always told my brother (who is now a judge) and me that he didn’t care what we ended up doing for a living, so long as we were lawyers while we were doing it. He was fully serious and we both knew it.
Q. How do you support diversity and inclusion at your firm?
A. Our firm is working on goals and processes to promote DEI not just in our hiring, but also in our onboarding, training, marketing, and our interactions with our colleagues in and out of the firm.
Birmingham Business Journal 2021 Best of the Bar: https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2021/04/15/bbj-best-of-the-bar-2021.html
About Christian & Small
Christian & Small LLP represents a diverse clientele throughout Alabama, the Southeast, and the nation with clients ranging from individuals and closely-held businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. By matching highly experienced lawyers with specific client needs, Christian & Small develops innovative, effective, and efficient solutions for clients. With offices in Birmingham, metro-Jackson, Mississippi, and the Alabama Gulf Coast, Christian & Small focuses on the areas of litigation and business, is a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms, and is the only Alabama-based member firm in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. Our corporate social responsibility program is focused on education, and diversity is one of Christian & Small’s core values.
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.