Press Release

Bradley is pleased to announce that Marc James Ayers and Michael J. Bentley have been elected Fellows of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (AAAL) and will be inducted at the Academy’s spring meeting in April.

“We congratulate Marc and Michael on this prestigious achievement and are proud of their long-standing commitment to the legal profession and for being highly regarded in appellate and trial courts throughout the country,” said Bradley Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Jonathan M. Skeeters.

Founded in 1990, the AAAL is an invitation-only association of nationally respected appellate lawyers dedicated to promoting the highest standards of professionalism and advocacy in appellate courts to advance the administration of justice. Fellows must have 15 years of appellate practice experience and undergo a rigorous vetting process. With the induction of Mr. Ayers and Mr. Bentley, Bradley now has five AAAL Fellows, which is among the highest number of any firm in the country, and includes former AAAL President Matthew H. Lembke, W. Wayne Drinkwater and Scott Burnett Smith.

Mr. Ayers is a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office and regularly represents individual, corporate and governmental clients before state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the nation. He has represented clients on petitions for certiorari and amicus curiae briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Ayers has also presented oral argument in the Fourth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits, and in various state appellate courts in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, New York, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas and Wyoming. Mr. Ayers is board certified in appellate practice by the Florida Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization and Education and was nominated by the Justices of the Alabama Supreme Court to serve on both the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure Standing Committee and the Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions Committee.

Mr. Bentley is a partner in Bradley’s Jackson, Mississippi office and concentrates his practice on appeals and litigation, with a focus on healthcare litigation, zoning law, and complex commercial disputes. He regularly serves as lead appellate counsel and has successfully argued high-profile appeals in Mississippi, including Reeves v. Gunn and American Tower v. Marshall County, Miss. His litigation experience ranges from class actions and commercial disputes to tax protests, premises liability cases, zoning contests, Section 1983 civil rights suits and constitutional claims. Mr. Bentley is an active member of the Mississippi Bar Association, having served as chair of the Appellate Practice Section from 2013-2014, and has served on the Board of Governors for the Fifth Circuit Bar Association since 2014.