David Hymer is an accomplished trial lawyer who has over 35 years of experience trying and arbitrating high-stakes disputes for a variety of corporate and individual clients across many disciplines. That broad-based trial experience gives him a unique perspective, enabling him to team with his clients to develop strategies that will guide them through complex and challenging disputes while staying focused on achieving his clients’ objectives.

David’s practice concentrates on complex business and commercial litigation, which includes a significant plaintiff’s practice on behalf of corporate clients, as well as a more traditional corporate defense practice. In addition to his trial work involving business and commercial disputes, he has tried to verdict or arbitrated to conclusion environmental, product liability, antitrust, construction, professional liability, intellectual property, and class action disputes.

Some of his more notable trials include serving as lead counsel for a national healthcare company in a trial resulting in a $2.8 billion judgment in favor of the company against its former CEO for damages suffered because of the CEO’s orchestration of a fraudulent financial reporting scheme. Benchmark Litigation recognized this trial as the Alabama “Case of the Year.” David also served as lead counsel for the healthcare company in related litigation brought against the company’s New York investment banker and its Big Four accounting firm, the latter of which concluded with a 100-day arbitration.

In another high-profile case, David obtained a defense verdict in favor of a contractor in a $100 million bet-the-company lawsuit involving a claim for defective work arising out of the construction of a nuclear power plant in the State of Washington. The National Law Journal included that result in its annual listing of the nation’s top defense verdicts.

David has represented a wide variety of clients from Fortune 50 companies to small family-owned businesses and individuals. His clients have included former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and the Estate of Harper Lee, which he recently represented in connection with an arbitration regarding the stage rights to her novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

David recently served as one of the lead national discovery counsel for a Fortune 10 retail chain pharmacy in connection with widely publicized litigation arising out of the national opioid epidemic. That litigation involved thousands of cases, some pending in an MDL and some pending in various state courts, in hundreds of jurisdictions throughout the country. David’s role was to oversee the pharmacy’s review and production of millions of documents, to coordinate defense of the client with other national counsel, and to serve as lead counsel in various individual cases.

Since 2007, The Best Lawyers in America^® has recognized David in the areas of Bet-the-Company and Commercial Litigation. He is ranked by Chambers USA for Commercial Litigation and listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers for Business Litigation. He was named by Benchmark Litigation's Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys as a Litigation Star in Alabama and by LMG Life Sciences as a Life Sciences Star. The Birmingham Business Journal recognized him as a “Best of the Bar” honoree in 2024. He is also a Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Litigation Counsel of America, and the Alabama Law Foundation.

David received his B.S. in Finance and his J.D. from the University of Alabama, where he served on the managing board of the Alabama Law Review and was elected to Order of the Coif. He has served as a member and past chair of the Alabama State Bar Board of Bar Examiners since 2001. He was twice awarded the Alabama State Bar President’s Award for meritorious service to the legal profession. He also is a recipient of the Alabama State Bar Award of Merit for outstanding and constructive service to the legal profession, which is the highest honor given by the Alabama State Bar to a lawyer. David has served on Bradley’s governing board and as the leader of the firm's Business Litigation team.

In addition, David often speaks on legal ethics, trial presentation, and the art of persuasion.

Bar Admissions

• Alabama, 1985

Court Admissions

• Supreme Court of the United States
• United States Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
• United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama

Education

• University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 1985, Law Review; Order of the Coif; Omicron Delta Kappa; Dean M. Leigh Harrison Scholar
• University of Alabama, B.S., 1982, Jasons Senior Honor Society

Significant Accomplishments
David has obtained favorable jury verdicts for clients in numerous multi-million dollar lawsuits, including matters involving commercial, environmental, antitrust, and product liability claims.  As lead counsel for HealthSouth, he obtained one of the largest verdicts in Alabama history against the company's former CEO for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of a massive accounting fraud scandal.

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