David Hymer is a trial lawyer who has extensive experience trying high-stakes lawsuits for a variety of corporate and individual clients. David’s practice focuses 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 or arbitrated to conclusion environmental, product liability, antitrust, construction, professional liability, intellectual property, corporate fiduciary, and class action disputes. A number of his trials and arbitrations have involved multimillion-dollar claims.
David was 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 as a result of fraudulent financial reporting. Benchmark Litigation recognized this lawsuit as the Alabama “Case of the Year.” Other notable trials include his successful defense of a chemical manufacturer against personal injury claims allegedly caused by environmental exposure to PCBs; his successful appeal following trial of an apparel manufacturer against property damage claims allegedly caused by the discharge of dye wastewater into a stream; and his successful defense of a large gasoline jobber against antitrust claims for price-fixing. David also obtained a defense verdict in favor of a contractor against a $75 million claim for defective work arising out of the construction of a nuclear power plant in the state of Washington. The National Law Journal recognized that result in its annual listing of the nation’s top defense verdicts.
David currently serves as one of CVS Health’s national lead discovery counsel in connection with the opioid litigation that is ongoing throughout the country.
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 in the field of Commercial Litigation, listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers in the field of Business Litigation, and has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation'sGuide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys as a Litigation Star in Alabama. LMG Life Sciences also recognized David as a Life Sciences Star. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.
David received his B.S. in Finance and his J.D. from the University of Alabama, where he 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 received 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 Practice Group.
In addition, David frequently lectures on legal ethics, trial presentation, and persuasion.
Alabama Law Foundation, Fellow Alabama State Bar Award of Merit, 2015 President's Award, 2015 Listed in Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial, 2020-2022 Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2010-2023 Commercial Litigation, 2007-2023 Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers, 2022 Business Litigation, 2016-2021 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 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 Magazine, "Top Attorneys," Civil Litigation, 2016 Michel Keck v. Alibaba.com, Inc., Case No. 17-cv-5672-BLF, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Representing plaintiff on behalf of a class of visual copyright holders (e.g., artists) against Alibaba companies for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Alibaba is a Chinese company that operates a number of e-commerce web platforms similar to Amazon. The Alibaba IPO was the largest in history, and it 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 involves counterfeit goods originating in China, which touches on significant U.S. trade issues and addresses 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 addresses the use of class action litigation to enforce copyrights, and class-wide damages claims could total hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Breach of anti-piracy and confidentiality covenants Represented Cobbs, Allen & Hall, Inc. (CAH) as lead counsel in an action brought by CAH against four former employees for breach of anti-piracy and confidentiality covenants. CAH’s lawsuit also asserted claims against the former employees’ new employer for intentional interference with contractual relations. The trial court entered a $1 million sanctions award in favor of CAH as a result of discovery abuses committed by the defendants. Our 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 millions of pages of paper discovery and more than 40 depositions, the parties reached a settlement on the day the tortious inference trial was to begin. Tucker v. Scrushy (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ala. 2009) Counsel for HealthSouth Corporation in obtaining $2.8 billion judgment in a non-jury trial of claims against HealthSouth's former CEO for breach of fiduciary duty arising out of a multi-billion dollar accounting fraud. Wayne v. Pharmacia Corp. (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ala. 2009) Obtained a jury verdict in favor of defendant Pharmacia on multi-million dollar claims of five plaintiffs for personal injury (diabetes and arthritis) allegedly resulting from exposure to PCBs. Goodreau v. HealthSouth Corporation (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ala. 2006) Defended a claim for breach of lifetime employment contract seeking damages of $6 million. Jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $1.89 million which was settled for a lesser amount on appeal. Russell Corp. v. Sullivan, 790 So. 2d 940 (Ala. 2001) Defended 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 defendant textile manufacturer. MT Packaging v. CVS Corp. (N.D. Ala. 1999) Defended breach of contract claim by a supplier of merchandise bags to CVS in which CVS asserted a counterclaim for fraud in connection with the supply of the bags. Following a bench trial, the court entered a judgment in favor of CVS on the plaintiff's claim and awarded CVS over $300,000 on its counterclaim. Moore v. Home Therapy Associates (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ala. 1998) Represented former president of company against his former company in an action seeking to recover for nonpayment of commissions and dissolution of business, and obtained a $600,000 jury verdict in favor of the former president. Galloway v. Crown Central Petroleum Corp. (Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ala. 1995) Obtained a jury verdict in favor of the defendant Crown Central Petroleum in a personal injury burn case arising out of an explosion at the defendant's gasoline tank farm. Washington Public Power Supply System v. Pittsburgh-Des Moines Corp., 1995 WL 729490 (9th Cir. Dec. 7, 1995) Obtained a jury verdict in a federal court trial in Washington in favor of the defendant construction company in an action alleging breach of a construction contract involving construction of a nuclear power plant containment vessel. The plaintiff sought in excess of $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 the year. Coleman v. Home Oil Company (M.D. Ala. 1992) Defended a Chevron 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 $1.00. Swindall v. Ford Motor Company (N.D. Ala. 1986) Obtained a defense verdict in favor of defendant Ford Motor Company in a product liability action involving injury to farmer's arm while operating cornpicker machine. HealthSouth v. former CEO, and outside advisors In October 2008, HealthSouth reached a settlement against its former investment bank, through which HealthSouth received $100 million in cash, in addition to the release of counterclaims and a $33 million judgment. The company’s claims against its former CEO, Richard Scrushy, were tried for two weeks in May 2009, after which the trial judge issued an opinion awarding the company over $2.8 billion in damages.
