Bradley Arant Announces Nine New Partners

Bradley Arant is pleased to announce that the firm has elevated the following nine attorneys to partner, effective on January 1: Tiffany J. deGruy, Ginger Carroll Gray, Joshua J. Phillips, R. Calloway Renegar, J. Thomas Richie, Brad Robertson, Whitt Steineker, William T. Thistle, II, and D. Bryan Thomas.

“We congratulate our new partners on this hard-earned and deserved honor,” said Bradley Arant’s Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Beau Grenier. “It is a pleasure to elevate each of these accomplished attorneys, and we are proud of them for reaching this significant milestone.”

Details of each new partner, grouped by office, can be found below.

Birmingham

Ms. deGruy is a litigator primarily focused on complex commercial litigation representing clients in a variety of industries, such as healthcare, e-commerce, and insurance, with clients ranging from large publicly traded companies to small family-owned businesses. She has worked on a variety of cases in both federal and state courts throughout the country, working to achieve favorable results on behalf of her clients. Ms. deGruy also handles complex arbitrations and represents clients in arbitration forums throughout the region. Further, she is actively involved in her community as evidenced through her extensive pro bono work. Ms. deGruy earned her J.D. (summa cum laude) from the University of Alabama School of Law and her B.A. ( summa cum laude) from Auburn University.

Ms. Gray practices on Bradley’s Real Estate and Banking and Financial Services teams. She regularly represents clients in a wide variety of commercial real estate transactions, including lending, acquisition, disposition, development, and leasing matters. She also regularly represents clients in the sale of distressed assets (both notes and OREO properties). Ms. Gray earned her J.D. (summa cum laude) and her B.S. (summa cum laude) from the University of Alabama.

Mr. Richie represents clients in procedurally complex civil litigation, both in trial and appellate courts throughout Alabama and across the country. He has litigated a broad range of cases, from class actions to municipal tax disputes to the Chapter 9 bankruptcy case of Jefferson County, Alabama. He has had success both asserting and defending claims. Thomas has litigated cases in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee and has successfully prosecuted or defended appeals in the Alabama Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit, and the Fourth Circuit. He earned his J.D. (summa cum laude), his B.S.B.A. (summa cum laude), and his B.A. (summa cum laude) from Samford University.

Mr. Robertson practices on Bradley’s White Collar and Litigation teams. He primarily focuses on representing clients through government investigations and litigation matters, with a special emphasis on suits brought under the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute or FIRREA, and suits otherwise alleging healthcare fraud and abuse or financial/mortgage fraud. Mr. Robertson has represented clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 100 companies—including institutional healthcare providers, physician practices, financial institutions, pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, and government contractors. He earned his J.D. (with honors) from the University of Chicago Law School and his B.A. (magna cum laude) from Vanderbilt University.

Mr. Steineker practices on Bradley’s Litigation, Product Liability, and Life Sciences Industry teams. He has devoted a substantial portion of his practice to representing the manufacturers of products ranging from tires to prescription drugs to medical devices. In addition, he has represented a variety of clients of all sizes—from multinational corporations to local businesses—in a wide range of civil matters in state and federal courts around the country. Mr. Steineker earned his J.D. (magna cum laude) from Georgetown University Law School and his B.A. (summa cum laude) from the University of Alabama.

Mr. Thistle practices primarily in the areas of federal and state and local taxation. He regularly counsels public and private businesses on Alabama tax matters, with particular emphasis in the areas of sales, use, and property taxes. A significant portion of his practice is dedicated to the representation of taxpayers in all phases of federal, state, and local tax controversy, including audit assistance, administrative hearings, and litigation. Other areas of Mr. Thistle’s practice include advising clients with regard to business license obligations, abandoned and unclaimed property, tax compliance obligations, voluntary disclosure agreements, and property tax litigation. In economic development matters, Mr. Thistle has advised clients regarding the available state and local tax incentives for their particular project and assisted with obtaining these incentives. He earned his J.D. (cum laude) from the University of Georgia School of Law, his M.T.A. from the University of Alabama, and his B.S. (summa cum laude) from Birmingham-Southern College.

Nashville

Mr. Phillips is a member of Bradley’s Litigation and Financial Services practice groups. His practice concentrates on complex business and commercial disputes, enforcement of non-competes, healthcare litigation, products liability defense, and representing financial institutions and mortgage companies in civil litigation matters. With regard to the financial services work, Mr. Phillips has defended claims asserting violations of the Truth in Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, and state law claims arising from foreclosures and modifications. He earned his J.D. (summa cum laude) from the University of Tennessee College of Law and his B.S. from Duke University.

Mr. Renegar is a member of Bradley’s Banking and Financial Services and Real Estate practice groups. His practice includes the representation of national, regional and local banks, life insurance companies, and corporate clients in a variety of commercial and real estate lending matters, including construction loans, permanent financing, working capital loans, and general corporate loans secured by real estate and personal property. He also assists clients in documenting loan modifications, loan assumptions and workouts, and in conducting foreclosure sales. Mr. Renegar earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and his B.S. (summa cum laude) from Middle Tennessee State University.

Mr. Thomas has a background in engineering, making him well suited to serve the full spectrum of construction industry clients. He focuses his litigation practice on construction- and property-related litigation where he represents owners, EPC contractors, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in issues and projects ranging from state-of-the-art power plants to residential homes. He has also handled a variety of construction-related product liability cases and represented clients with property-related matters, from lien and title issues to eminent domain proceedings and natural resources issues involving oil, gas, and coal. In addition to litigation, Mr. Thomas advises clients regarding construction-related contracts, risk management, and project administration. He earned his J.D. and his B.S. (summa cum laude) from the University of Kentucky.

About Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP serves emerging businesses; established regional, national and international companies; and individuals. Our offices—strategically located in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and the District of Columbia—provide an extensive geographic base from which to best accommodate our clients. Recognized across the country, our attorneys serve as national, regional and statewide counsel for clients across many industries. Clients rely on Bradley Arant Boult Cummings attorneys for innovative legal services that reflect a detailed understanding of their business goals.

The firm’s attorneys serve clients in matters pertaining to antitrust, appellate, arbitration, banking, bankruptcy, construction, corporate and securities, complex business litigation, class actions, economic development, emerging business and technology, employee benefits, energy and natural resources, entertainment, environmental, family-owned businesses, financial services litigation, government affairs, government contracts, healthcare, insurance, intellectual property, labor and employment, life sciences, mediation, medical malpractice, pharmaceutical, private companies, professional liability, product liability, real estate, tax, utilities, and white-collar criminal defense law.

Contact: Vivian Hood
904.220.1915
vhood@jaffepr.com