Firm Activities - Wednesday, January 7, 2009 13:26 - 0 Comments

Employee Spotlights

David Byrne

David joined the firm in 2001 and he now focuses primarily on commercial and environmental litigation. Before joining Beasley Allen, David practiced with the firm of Beck & Byrne, P.C., where he was involved in consumer fraud litigation, business litigation, personal injury litigation, and state and federal criminal litigation. David also served as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama and as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Robert Varner and Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Judge John M. Patterson.

David has assisted clients in obtaining multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts in a wide variety of cases including: Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) cases, food-product franchise cases, accounting malpractice cases, motor vehicle franchise act cases, consumer fraud class actions, funeral services cases, premises liability cases, insurance agent contract cases, defective product cases, and numerous environmental liability cases. In 2003, he was involved in the record-breaking $700 million dollar settlement for PCB contamination claims against Solutia, Monsanto and Pharmacia in Anniston, Alabama. David was the lead lawyer in a recent environmental case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case a $21.9 million verdict for the City of Columbus, Georgia, a local business owner and a homeowner was affirmed.

David and his wife, Betty Bobbitt, have been married since 1993 and have two children. They attend Young Meadows Presbyterian Church, where David serves as a deacon. David is also the president of the Montgomery County Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the Board of Governors for the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association. David is an outstanding lawyer who works very hard and gets very good results for his clients. We are most fortunate to have David as a lawyer in the firm.

J.P. Sawyer

J.P. Sawyer has been with the firm for eight years. His litigation focus is currently in the area of product liability actions. J.P. has become primarily involved in cases involving defective roof structures in automobiles. Most recently, he has done a good deal of work relating to side impact and rollover airbags. J.P. has cases pending throughout the entire Southeast. The Coffee County native is a frequent speaker at litigation seminars. He has been invited to speak at national seminars. He has authored several papers relating to litigation. J.P. is actively involved in both the Alabama Association for Justice and the Mississippi Association for Justice. In fact, he is a “lifetime member” of the Mississippi Association for Justice.

J.P. is married to Keely Warren Sawyer of Enterprise, Alabama. They have two daughters, Kalyn and Ella, and twin sons, Brack and Lint. J.P. and his wife Keely are active members of St. James United Methodist Church. J.P. enjoys foreign mission work. Most recently he traveled to Ecuador and Cuba to participate in missionary work through the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission program. J.P. is a real asset to the firm. He works hard for his clients and cares deeply for their well-being. We are blessed to have J.P. with us.

Navan Ward

Navan Ward, who has been with the firm since 2002, is in the Mass Torts Section. He was originally responsible for overseeing the Meridia pharmaceutical drug litigation. This drug was used as a weight loss treatment, but caused users to suffer heart attacks and strokes. Navan has worked on a number of nursing home neglect and abuse cases in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia. He has litigated cases where nursing home residents suffered from injuries such as multiple falls, bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia and sepsis/infections. Navan has been successful in obtaining verdicts and settlements in excess of $2.85 million for the nursing home residents he has represented.

Currently, Navan is heavily involved with the Cox-2 (Vioxx, Celebrex, Bextra) pharmaceutical drug litigation. These drugs were used for the treatment of arthritis, but caused heart attacks, strokes, and serious skin reactions. He has been responsible for overseeing the Celebrex and Bextra pharmaceutical litigation. Navan is one of the leaders in the Bextra/Celebrex Multi-district Litigation (MDL), serving on both the Science and Discovery committees. Also, Navan is responsible for overseeing the Permax and Dostinex pharmaceutical drug litigation. These drugs were used for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, but caused damage to the users’ heart valves.

Recently, Navan has begun representing victims who have been injured by the use of pain pumps. He has been instrumental in obtaining settlements totaling more than $73 million for some of the clients that he represents who have taken these dangerous drugs. Navan has given several presentations concerning Cox-2 drug issues, Permax/Dostinex litigation, Hormone Replacement Therapy litigation, and nursing home litigation issues throughout the country.

Navan is married to the former Bridget L. Maynor, of Irondale, Alabama. Navan’s childhood church was Bethany Seventh Day Adventist Church, but he now attends Northview Christian Church – Safe Harbor. Navan is the Co-chair of the Annual Father Walter’s Charity Golf Tournament and a member of the Alabama Law Foundation’s Grants Committee. Additionally he is a member of Leadership Montgomery’s Class XXI.
Navan serves in leadership positions for various legal organizations. Currently, he serves as the treasurer for the Young Lawyers Section of the Alabama State Bar; treasurer for the Montgomery Trial Lawyer’s Association; treasurer for the Capital City Bar Association; Law School Summer Internship Chairperson and secretary for the Alabama Lawyer’s Association. In addition, he is a member of the Montgomery County Bar Association and the Mississippi Bar Association, and is an American Bar Association State Delegate for Alabama. Navan is an excellent lawyer who works extremely hard for his clients. He believes in his work and in his clients and that’s very important. We are blessed to have Navan in our firm.

Lisa Harris

Lisa Harris serves as Executive Director for our firm, which simply means she literally “runs the place.” Lisa, who has been with the firm for 18 years, took over her current duties in 1998. Since then she has been in charge of managing all daily activities of the firm. Lisa graduated from Auburn University Montgomery with a Business Administration degree. When she is not at work Lisa keeps busy with her 18 year-old daughter, Haley, who is a freshman at Faulkner University in Montgomery. She also enjoys traveling, water sports, and, most of all, the beach. We are most fortunate to have Lisa, a dedicated and extremely competent person, heading up the firm. She is a real blessing to all of us and a most valuable employee.

Miriam Griffin

Miriam Griffin has been with the firm since July of 2007 as a Legal Assistant to Leigh O’Dell in our Mass Torts Section. She commutes everyday from Evergreen, Alabama. She obtained her Paralegal Certificate from Auburn University and has 11 years of experience in various areas of law including Criminal Law and Real Estate Law. Miriam enjoys hiking, reading, sewing, going to the beach in her free time and spending time with her two grandchildren. She is a very good employee who works extremely hard. Miriam is a blessing and we are fortunate to have her with us.

Lisa Smith

Lisa Smith has been with the firm for eight years as Jay Aughtman’s legal assistant in our Consumer Fraud Section. Her main job is handling discovery matters. Lisa works on the class action opt-out cases and spends a good bit of time communicating with clients, updating them on their cases or obtaining new information from them. All of our legal assistants are valuable members of the litigation team in a case. Lisa has been married to David Smith of Prattville for 22 years and they have two boys, Dustin (age 21) and Donnie (age 15). Lisa also has two grandchildren Raygan (age two) and Colt (age one), whom she adores. She enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and watching her son Donnie play for the Billingsley Bears. Lisa is an outstanding employee, who enjoys her work and does it well. We are fortunate to have Lisa with the firm.

Carol Thompson

Carol Thompson, one of our most experienced legal assistants, works for Greg Allen in our Product Liability Section. Carol, who has been with the firm since 1990, has been involved in some of our most important product liability cases. The work in product liability cases is extremely difficult, demanding, and intense for a number of reasons. These cases will always involve either a death or serious injury that permanently disables the victim. As a result, folks who work on these cases must have a great deal of medical knowledge and expertise. Discovery in these cases is always difficult and requires a good deal of plain old hard work. The only way to obtain documents and information from corporate Defendants is to work hard, be persistent and never give up. Carol is a real pro when it comes to discovery issues and it has paid off for the clients in some very important cases.

Carol is married to Mark Thompson, a veteran with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, and they have three sons and one grandson. Most of Carol’s free time is spent entertaining her five-year-old grandson, Gavin. Carol’s life has been dedicated to her family and her job. She says between the two, there is not much time for anything else. Carol is a tremendous asset to the firm and is the best example of what a legal assistant should be that I have had the privilege of working with. We are truly blessed to have her with us.

Amy Yeargan

Amy Yeargan came to the firm in August of 2007 as a Legal Assistant for Alyce Robertson and Chris Boutwell in the Toxic Torts section. Amy has also worked with Scott Thomas, in Internet Services, on numerous internet commercials/video clips for the firm. Amy is engaged to Caleb Ross, a history teacher and a football coach at Prattville High School. They have plans to marry on April 18, 2009. She graduated from Auburn University Montgomery in May of 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Justice and Public Safety and obtained a paralegal certification from the American Bar Association.

While at AUM, Amy was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority where she held several offices such as Scholarship Coordinator and Vice President of Operations. While Amy is busy working at the firm and also planning her wedding, she also enjoys shopping, working out, and reading. She is a very good employee and we are fortunate to have her with us.