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'sGuide 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.
Alabama Law Foundation, Fellow Alabama State Bar Award of Merit, 2015 President's Award, 2015 Listed in Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial, 2020-2023 Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2010-2024 Commercial Litigation, 2007-2024 Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers Business Litigation, 2016-2023 Listed in Alabama Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, 2012-2015 Listed in Benchmark Litigation: Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys "Local Litigation Star," Alabama, 2010-2021 "Litigation Star", 2023-2024 Alabama Case of the Year, 2012 Listed in LMG Life Sciences, "Life Sciences Star," 2019-2020, 2022 The National Law Journal, Defense verdict recognized as one of the nation's "Top Defense Verdicts" in annual listing Listed in Birmingham Business Journal "Best of the Bar," 2024 Listed in Birmingham Magazine, "Top Attorneys," Civil Litigation, 2016 Obtained favorable jury verdicts for clients in numerous multimillion-dollar lawsuits, including matters involving commercial, environmental, antitrust, and product liability claims. As lead counsel for HealthSouth (now Encompass), obtained one of the largest judgments in Alabama history against the company's former CEO for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of a massive accounting fraud scandal. Public Nuisance Arising Out of the Opioid Epidemic National discovery counsel for a national retail chain pharmacy defending thousands of opioid cases pending in an MDL and in various state courts throughout the United States. These cases were brought by governmental entities (i.e., cities, counties, and states), hospitals, third-party payors, and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The lawsuits alleged that prescription opioid manufacturers, prescription opioid distributors, and national retail chain pharmacies contributed to the creation of the opioid epidemic by improperly marketing, distributing, or filling prescriptions for opioid medications. Breach of Fiduciary Duty Steven McKinney, individually and derivatively on behalf of Primus, LLC v. Thomas Pinter (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama) Obtained a complete victory on all claims and counterclaims in a jury trial in favor of defendant/counterclaim plaintiff, a 50% owner of a manufacturing company, against his 50% co-owner in an action in which each asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of the LLC operating agreement against the other. Copyright Section 304(c) Notice of Termination and Breach of Licensing Contract Dramatic Publishing Co. v. The Estate of Nelle Harper Lee (American Arbitration Association) Represented the Estate of Harper Lee in an arbitration proceeding relating to the stage rights in the theatrical dramatization of Ms. Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Ms. Lee had given a license to Dramatic Publishing Company to write a stage adaptation of the novel and to license the production in stock and amateur theaters. The core issues in the arbitration were the meaning of “stock and amateur” in the license agreement and the effect of a notice of termination under Section 304(c) of the Copyright Act. Copyright Infringement Michel Keck v. Alibaba.com Hong Kong, Ltd., 369 F. Supp. 3d 932 (N.D. Cal. 2019) Represented plaintiff on behalf of a class of visual copyright holders (i.e., artists) against Alibaba companies for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Alibaba is a Chinese company that operates e-commerce web platforms similar to Amazon. The Alibaba IPO was the largest in history, and the company is one of the top 10 most valuable companies in the world. Hundreds of thousands of counterfeit products, including artwork, are sold over the Alibaba platforms. The case involved counterfeit goods originating in China. The lawsuit touched on significant U.S. trade issues and addressed whether companies like Alibaba can hide behind the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor while knowingly providing platforms for and facilitating the sale of counterfeit goods. The case addressed the use of class action litigation to enforce copyrights, and class-wide damages claims that totaled hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. A confidential settlement was reached by the parties. Breach of Restrictive Covenants Cobbs, Allen & Hall, Inc. v. EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants(Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama) Lead counsel for plaintiff, an insurance brokerage, in an action against four former executives asserting claims for breach of anti-piracy, non-compete, and confidentiality covenants. The lawsuit also asserted claims against their new employer for tortious interference with contractual relations. The trial court awarded $1.1 million in sanctions in favor of the plaintiff because of discovery abuses committed by the defendants. The Bradley team discovered that defendants were engaged in a scheme to conceal documents from production by placing spaces between letters of words in emails so the documents would not be found using electronic word searches. After years of contentious litigation, which included hundreds of thousands of pages of paper discovery and more than 40 depositions, the parties reached a settlement on the day the trial was to begin. Breach of Fiduciary Duty Scrushy v. Tucker, 70 So. 3d 289 (Ala. 2011) Lead counsel for a national inpatient rehabilitation hospital that obtained a $2.8 billion judgment in a non-jury trial of claims against national inpatient rehabilitation hospital’s former CEO for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud. Fraud and Professional Negligence HealthSouth v. UBS Investment Bank (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama); HealthSouth v. Ernst & Young, LLP (AAA Arbitration) Lead counsel for HealthSouth in Scrushy-related litigation brought against its former New York investment banker for assisting to facilitate the fraud, and its former Big Four auditing firm for failing to catch the fraud. In a settlement with the investment banker, HealthSouth received cash and other consideration totaling $133 million. The claims against the Big Four accounting firm were concluded following a 100-day arbitration. Personal Injury Environmental Claims Wayne v. Pharmacia Corp. (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama) Obtained a jury verdict in favor of defendant Pharmacia on multimillion-dollar claims brought by five plaintiffs for personal injury (diabetes and arthritis) allegedly resulting from exposure to PCBs. This trial was a bellwether trial involving five of several thousand lawsuits that had been filed. Insurance Coverage Metric/Kvaerner Fayetteville v. Federal Insurance Co.,403 F.3d 188 (4th Cir. 2005) Successfully overturned summary judgment in favor of insurer that had been entered in coverage action on grounds of untimely notice of claim. Property Damage Environmental Claims Russell Corp. v. Sullivan, 790 So. 2d 940 (Ala. 2001) Obtained victory for a textile manufacturer in an environmental action alleging trespass and nuisance claims relating to discharge of textile wastewater into a public lake. On appeal from a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and rendered judgment in favor of the textile manufacturer. Fraud and Breach of Contract MT Packaging v. CVS Corp. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama) Obtained victory in favor of national retail pharmacy in bench trial of a case brought by a supplier of merchandise bags to the pharmacy, which had recently purchased another pharmacy chain. The supplier sued for breach of contract after the acquiring pharmacy stopped accepting bags from supplier under a long-term contract. The pharmacy asserted a counterclaim for fraud in connection with the supply of the bags when it was discovered through discovery that the supplier had surreptitiously reduced the thickness of the bags to save on resin costs. Following a bench trial, the court entered a judgment in favor of the pharmacy on the plaintiff's claim and awarded pharmacy over $300,000 on its fraud counterclaim. Executive Compensation Dispute Moore v. Home Therapy Associates (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama) Obtained a jury verdict in favor of company’s former president against the company in an action seeking to recover for nonpayment of commissions and dissolution of business. Personal Injury Galloway v. Crown Central Petroleum Corp. (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama) Obtained jury verdict in favor of defendant petroleum company in a personal injury burn case arising out of an explosion at the defendant's gasoline tank farm. Breach of Construction Contract Washington Public Power Supply System v. Pittsburgh-Des Moines Corp., 1995 WL 729490 (9th Cir. Dec. 7, 1995) Obtained victory on all claims in a Washington federal court jury trial in favor of the defendant construction company in an action by the owner alleging breach of a construction contract. The project was for the construction of a nuclear power plant containment vessel. The plaintiff sought more than $100 million for the cost of repairing allegedly defective work. The defense verdict was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the nation's top defense verdicts of that year. Price-Fixing Antitrust Coleman v. Home Oil Company (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama) Defended a Chevron gasoline jobber in a civil antitrust class action alleging price fixing by gasoline retailers in Dothan, Alabama. Plaintiffs sought to recover in excess of $25 million. Following a six-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs for $1. Product Liability Swindall v. Ford Motor Company (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama) Obtained jury verdict in favor of a farm equipment manufacturer in a product liability action involving debilitating injury to farmer's arm while operating corn picker machinery.
