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Tips, Tricks, and Traps for the Unwary: Things You didn't Know You Didn't Know
Original Program Date :
Length: 1:16:39
This session will discuss how the rules don't tell you everything, specific cases relating to best practices, ethical situations and formatting tips for briefs.
Justice Gregory Cook, Alabama Supreme Court
Justice Gregory Carl Cook (“Greg”) was elected to the Supreme Court in 2022. Justice Cook is the son of Gene and Dottie Cook and is from Florence, Alabama. From an early age, his parents instilled in him faith, the value of hard work, and the importance of public service. He discovered early his passion for the conservative, optimistic principles of President Reagan’s shining city on a hill. Justice Cook attended Duke University on an Air Force ROTC scholarship, graduated in 1984 magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then served our country in the United States Air Force, reaching the rank of Captain. Justice Cook received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1991, magna cum laude, where he served as an Executive Editor of the Federalist Society’s Journal of Law and Public Policy.
After finishing law school, Justice Cook moved back to Alabama and practiced law at Balch & Bingham for over 31 years. He handled a wide variety of matters in over 40 of Alabama’s 67 counties and in over 15 different states, including jury trials, bench trials, and arbitrations. A large part of his practice involved complex commercial litigation including a number of class actions. He is the author of the two-volume treatise Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure Annotated (5th Edition) and is the co-author and editor of two books: Class Action Strategy & Practice Guide (2018) and The Class Action Fairness Act: Law and Strategy (2013 and 2022). Before taking the bench, Justice Cook also served for many years on the Alabama Supreme Court Standing Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure. Justice Cook has been active in the American, Alabama, and Birmingham Bars, including: as a member of Council and a Life Fellow (Section of Litigation, American Bar); as a Past Chair of the Business Torts and Antitrust Section and a Bar Examiner (subject-matter expert) (Alabama Bar); and as a Life Fellow, a member of the Grievance Committee, and a Past Chair of the Civil Courts Procedure Committee (Birmingham Bar). In his private practice, he received numerous awards and rankings, including from: Chambers USA, Best Lawyers (multiple areas), BTI Client Service All-Star, Benchmark (multiple areas), Super Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell. He is a long time member of the Federalist Society and the American Inns of Court, among other legal groups.
After finishing law school, Justice Cook moved back to Alabama and practiced law at Balch & Bingham for over 31 years. He handled a wide variety of matters in over 40 of Alabama’s 67 counties and in over 15 different states, including jury trials, bench trials, and arbitrations. A large part of his practice involved complex commercial litigation including a number of class actions. He is the author of the two-volume treatise Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure Annotated (5th Edition) and is the co-author and editor of two books: Class Action Strategy & Practice Guide (2018) and The Class Action Fairness Act: Law and Strategy (2013 and 2022). Before taking the bench, Justice Cook also served for many years on the Alabama Supreme Court Standing Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure. Justice Cook has been active in the American, Alabama, and Birmingham Bars, including: as a member of Council and a Life Fellow (Section of Litigation, American Bar); as a Past Chair of the Business Torts and Antitrust Section and a Bar Examiner (subject-matter expert) (Alabama Bar); and as a Life Fellow, a member of the Grievance Committee, and a Past Chair of the Civil Courts Procedure Committee (Birmingham Bar). In his private practice, he received numerous awards and rankings, including from: Chambers USA, Best Lawyers (multiple areas), BTI Client Service All-Star, Benchmark (multiple areas), Super Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell. He is a long time member of the Federalist Society and the American Inns of Court, among other legal groups.
Matthew Fridy, Judge, Alabama Court of Civil Appeals
Matt Fridy’s practice focuses on corporate litigation, constitutional law, campaign finance, agricultural/food law, appellate and critical motion litigation, and general litigation. A member of the Alabama State Bar, he is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, all Alabama federal district courts, and all Alabama state courts. Matt has served as an attorney to the Governor, Finance Director, and Comptroller of Alabama, successfully defending a State law barring government payroll deductions for political activity. He defended several members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees Alabama Public Television, in a lawsuit by the Commission’s former executive director alleging violations of the State Open Meetings Act. His current work includes, among other things, representing a national developer of low-income housing tax credit properties in a challenge to the manner in which Boards of Equalization assess such properties, and representing several produce dealers and distributors relative to compliance with and litigation under the federal Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.
Drawing on his years of experience as a senior staff attorney in the Alabama appellate courts, Matt represents the firm’s clients on an ongoing basis before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court, and the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. Matt received his B.A. in history, cum laude, from the University of Montevallo and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.
Aaron McLeod, Adams & Reese LLP
Aaron focuses his practice on appellate litigation and dispositive-motion briefing. He has represented multiple clients in appeals before the Alabama Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Texas trial and appellate courts, and the United States Supreme Court, and has served as appellate counsel for clients in major trials in Alabama and Texas. Aaron is also experienced in defending personal-injury, business-litigation, construction-defect and professional-malpractice cases and has published on Alabama legal-malpractice law for the American Bar Association’s Professional Liability Litigation Committee. Aaron also represents clients in lawsuits concerning charter schools, oil-and-gas contracts, and property damage.
