Highlights

• Secured a landmark jury trial victory for Drummond Company, Inc. and one of its subsidiaries in long-running, high-profile litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The dispute originated from allegations that defendant Terrence P. Collingsworth made false and defamatory statements accusing Drummond of involvement in human rights abuses in Colombia, including hiring paramilitary groups to commit scores of murders. Drummond discovered that Collingsworth and his associates, while representing hundreds of plaintiffs in prior Alien Tort Statute actions against Drummond, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the benefit of witnesses (many imprisoned in Colombia, South America) who testified against Drummond.  After this evidence came to light in the defamation suit, Drummond filed a second suit alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).  Both cases proceeded to a consolidated trial. The trial lasted for 6 weeks beginning December 1, 2025, and resulted in a substantial verdict in Drummond’s favor, with the jury awarding $68 million on the RICO claims, plus $26 million in compensatory damages and $26 million in punitive damages on the defamation claim. After trebling under RICO statutes, the total award reached $256 million. This verdict is the largest federal jury award in the history of Alabama.  The multi-year case centered on complex legal and factual issues, including alleged witness bribery, obstruction of justice, money laundering, extortion, and spoliation of evidence.  It also involved numerous interlocutory appeals to the Eleventh Circuit, including one which resulted in a published opinion regarding the crime-fraud exception to privilege (Drummond Co. v. Conrad & Scherer, LLP, 885 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2018)).
• Currently representing a long-standing firm client in a case involving more than 200 cities and counties which challenges the Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT) in Alabama.
• Currently representing approximately 50 corporate entities and their affiliates, including multiple Fortune 100 companies, that are pursuing federal antitrust claims after opting out of a $2.7 billion class action settlement in In re: Blue Cross and Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation (MDL No.: 2406), 2:13-cv-20000-RDP (N.D. Ala.).
• Secured a victory in the Alabama Supreme Court on behalf of an Alabama municipality in a case alleging nuisance, trespass, and negligence.  The case carried wide ranging implications regarding the scope of Alabama municipalities’ liability for stormwater drainage systems.  Following an adverse ruling in the trial court, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed on appeal and issued a unanimous, 53 page opinion ruling in our client’s favor.  The Alabama Supreme Court held, as a matter of first impression, that a city’s decision regarding whether “to expand or upgrade a stormwater-drainage system is akin to a decision to provide a public service ‘for the public’s safety, health, and general welfare’ such that any duty related to the upgrade or expansion of that system is a duty owed to the public as a whole” and does not create municipal liability to individual citizens.  City of Mountain Brook v. Miller, SC-2025-0293, 2026 Ala. LEXIS 65 (Ala. June 26, 2026).
• Obtained a jury verdict worth more than $50 million in favor of a multinational corporation against one of the three largest railroad companies in the United States in a dispute involving a long-term contract for rail transportation.  Argued the appeal before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, resulting in a complete affirmance of the judgment.
• Secured an $8.3 million dollar judgment in favor of a multinational corporation in a case involving a contract for port throughput capacity and the international export of metallurgical coal.  The case was tried in the Northern District of Georgia, and the judgment was affirmed on appeal in a published opinion, Southern Coal Corp. v. Drummond Coal Sales, Inc., 28 F.4^th 1334 (11^th Cir. 2022), in which the appellate court also found that our client was entitled to attorneys’ fees and litigation costs in addition to the judgment amount.
• Secured a multimillion dollar judgment in favor of a multinational corporation in a case involving a contract for port throughput capacity and the international export of metallurgical coal.

• Secured the dismissal of a federal RICO lawsuit seeking more than $100,000,000 in damages from eleven defendants that included both corporate entities and individuals.
• Obtained complete summary judgment in favor of a multinational corporation and its executives in a mass tort action involving claims of more than 600 Colombian citizens arising under the Alien Tort Statute, the Torture Victims Protection Act, and Colombian wrongful death law.  Doe v. Drummond Co., Inc., 782 F.3d 576 (11th Cir. 2015), cert. denied 136 S. Ct. 1168 (2016)
• Baloco v. Drummond Co., Inc., 767 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2014) – Obtained complete summary judgment in favor of a multinational corporation and its executives on claims arising under the Alien Tort Statute, the Torture Victims Protection Act, and Colombian wrongful death law premised on the deaths of three Colombian labor union leaders.
• Awarded complete summary judgment in a case alleging violations of 42 USC 1981, Title VII and the FMLA.
• Secured complete summary judgment in a case alleging excessive force against a police officer who fatally shot the decedent during a confrontation at the decedent’s home.
• Obtained complete summary judgment in a lawsuit filed against an Alabama municipality by a plaintiff seeking a refund of allegedly overpaid business license fees.
• Secured dismissal of all claims against a former mayor arising out of the allegedly wrongful arrest of a former police chief by his successor.
• Obtained judgment as a matter of law on behalf of a municipality, its mayor, its police chief and several officers in a lawsuit alleging conspiracy, false arrest, abuse of process, and malicious prosecution.
• Secured a summary judgment for 4 supervisory co-employees in a case where the plaintiff was seriously injured after falling 7 feet while operating a mud car at a coke plant.
• Obtained complete summary judgment in favor of a police officer and judicial magistrate on the basis that they were entitled to state agent immunity and absolute judicial immunity, respectively.  The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals affirmed on appeal.
• Obtained summary judgment on a 42 USC 1983 claim brought against a municipal-owned utility, a former mayor, and the utility operations manager where the plaintiff alleged a violation of procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment arising out of the allegedly tortious disconnection of her electrical services.  The Eleventh Circuit affirmed on appeal.  Louise Alexander v. Edward May, 2012 WL 1758612 (11th Cir. 2012)
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of a municipality against a property owner who alleged that the city wrongfully condemned and demolished her property.
• Secured complete dismissal of all claims, which included invasion of privacy, defamation, abuse of process, and negligence, brought against several municipal employees, including a police officer.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of a property owner against an individual who brought eight separate counts, including negligent design, negligent creation of a defect, negligent maintenance, and negligent failure to warn, and alleged that he was injured by a defect on the premises while playing tennis.  Miller ex rel. Miller v. Liberty Park Joint Venture, LLC, 84 So. 3d 88 (Ala. Civ. App. 2011)
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of a municipality and two police officers against an individual who alleged he was wrongfully arrested for capital murder.

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News & Insights

• Starnes Attorneys Presley, Davis & Newton Win in the Alabama Supreme Court
• Starnes Davis Florie LLP Secures Landmark $256 Million Jury Verdict for Drummond Company, Inc.
• Starnes Davis Florie Secures Landmark $256 Million Verdict in a High-Profile Trial
• Benchmark Litigation 2026 Ranks Starnes Davis Florie as a Highly Recommended Litigation Firm
• Starnes Davis Florie Ranked as a Highly Recommended Litigation Firm in the 2025 Edition of Benchmark Litigation
• Starnes Davis Florie Ranked as a “Highly Recommended Litigation Firm” in the 2024 Edition of Benchmark Litigation
• Davis, Wells & Presley Win Appeal for Multinational Corporation
• DAVIS, WELLS, AND PRESLEY SECURE AFFIRMANCE OF A JUDGMENT WORTH MORE THAN $45 MILLION DOLLARS FOR A MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION
• Twenty-Six Attorneys Named to the 2020 Edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers
• SDF’s Davis, Wells, and Presley Secure a Judgment in Favor of a Multinational Corporation
• SDF Attorneys Davis, Wells & Presley Secure a Complete Dismissal of a Federal RICO Lawsuit Seeking More than $100,000,000 in Damages
• SDF’s Tony Davis, Trey Wells, and Ben Presley Secure Jury Verdict in Favor of Multinational Corporation
• THIRTY-ONE SDF ATTORNEYS NAMED TO THE 2019 EDITION OF MID-SOUTH SUPER LAWYERS
• THIRTY-ONE SDF ATTORNEYS NAMED TO THE 2018 EDITION OF MID-SOUTH SUPER LAWYERS
• Twenty-Eight SDF Attorneys Named to the 2017 Edition of Mid-South Super Lawyers
• Newton Butler and Presley Obtain Favorable Ruling from The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals
• SDF ALERT: Alabama’s Workers Comp Law Unconstitutional?
• Butler and Presley Secure Complete Dismissal in Favor of an Alabama Municipality in a Tax Refund Action
• SDF Attorneys Perkins and Presley Obtain Favorable Ruling on Behalf of a Police Officer
• SDF Attorney Ben Presley Obtains Complete Summary Judgment in a Case Alleging Violations of 42 USC 1981, Title VII and the FMLA