Robert P. MacKenzie, III

Bob MacKenzie is a partner at Starnes Davis Florie, having joined the firm in 1984 after completing law school. Bob is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and currently serves as the firm’s Managing Partner.

Bob’s practice is devoted to handling a broad scope of litigation including medical and legal malpractice actions, bad faith, product liability, commercial transactions, and labor and employment. He has tried in excess of 100 jury trials to a verdict, involving the defense of physicians, hospitals, lawyers, insurers, commercial institutions, and product manufacturers. Bob also represents lawyers and health care professionals in disciplinary matters before Alabama Regulatory Boards. He has published multiple articles on the defense of legal malpractice suits. His practice includes cases in Alabama and the Southeast

Professional Recognition

Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers
Immediate Past President of the Birmingham Bar Association (2015 – 2016)
Diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and previously served on the National Board of Directors
Fellow of the American Bar Association
Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and the Litigation Counsel of America
Member of the Professional Liability Defense Federation were he previously served on the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Lawyers Liability Committee
A Member of the Executive Committees of the Birmingham Bar Association, Birmingham Bar Foundation, and the Birmingham Bar Volunteer Association
A Member of the Judge Edward Horton American Inn of Court
A Life Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation and of the Birmingham Bar Foundation
Top Leading Litigator by Chambers USA
Super Lawyer in Alabama by Mid-South Super Lawyers® magazine
"Litigation Star" for the state of Alabama in Benchmark Litigation
Listed in Best Lawyers in America®. In addition, Best Lawyers in America® has named Bob MacKenzie the “Birmingham Best Lawyers Medical Malpractice Defense Lawyer of the Year” for 2013
An AV rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review RatingsTM

Community Involvement

Bob serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for Cumberland School of Law.
He previously served as Chairman for the Board from 2008-2010.
He is the past chairman of the 2005-2006 Cumberland School of Law Alumni Fundraising Campaign and was selected as the school’s “Volunteer of the Year” for 2006.
Bob is actively involved at the Cathedral Church of the Advent.
He and his wife, Jeanie have three children.

Highlights

Obtained a defense verdict for a defendant gynecologist in a case alleging negligent failure to diagnose breast cancer, resulting in a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
Removal and dismissal of legal malpractice claim against out of state attorney and law firm.
Obtained summary judgment in a legal malpractice suit pending in the United States District Court for New Jersey arising out of an underlying patent litigation matter.
Obtained summary judgment in favor of a law firm in a suit for legal malpractice pending in Federal Court arising out of an underlying will contest.
Secured an Order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant attorney and law firm arising out of an underlying commercial transaction.
Obtained defense verdict for an addiction medicine physician in case arising out of care provided during the patient’s detoxification.
After a six day legal malpractice case, plaintiff failed to recover any damages.

Obtained a defense verdict in favor of an anesthesiologist in a case arising out of a cervical epidural block which led to a spinal cord injury.
Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an OB/GYN after a five day trial in a case arising out of pregnancy complications.
Obtained a defense verdict in favor of two pathologists in a case arising out of a false positive interpretation of breast tissue which led to unnecessary surgery.
After nineteen days of trial, obtained judgment as a matter of law on behalf of an internist in a wrongful death case involving allegations of failure to diagnose a liver hematoma in an ICU patient.
Obtained summary judgment in legal malpractice action arising out of alleged negligent failure to properly construct a multi-million dollar bond issue. Decision was affirmed by written opinion issued by the Alabama Supreme Court.
Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an Emergency Department physician in an eleven day wrongful death trial in the Circuit Court of Mobile County.
Summary judgment affirmed by the United States Eleventh Circuit of Appeals on behalf of an attorney charged with failing to adequately represent the client in an underlying criminal action.
Summary judgment affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court arising out of an attorney’s failure to properly investigate potential insurance coverage on behalf of a client in an underlying civil claim.

Presentations and Publications

Direct & Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses, Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham, AL, March 29, 2016.
Evidentiary Matters During Trial, Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham, AL, November 13, 2015.
Alabama State Bar Professionalism, New Admitted Members of the Alabama State Bar, Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham, AL, October 23, 2015.
Direct & Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses, Alabama Defense Trial Academy, Birmingham, AL, August 7, 2015.
Cross Examination of Plaintiff’s Expert Witness, Alabama Defense Lawyers Association Trial Academy, Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham, AL, August 8, 2014.
Common Oversights That Lead to Malpractice Claims, Attorneys Insurance Mutual Of the South, Inc., Mobile, AL, November 8, 2013.
Ethics: Avoiding a Suit for Legal Malpractice, The Judge James Edwin Horton American Inn of Court, Birmingham, AL, October 22, 2013.

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U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama
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Robert P. MacKenzie, III (Bob)