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About Ben
Ben has been a member of the Personal Injury and Products Liability Section at Beasley Allen Law Firm since 2001 and has worked on various litigation cases. He has received verdicts and settlements in numerous cases, resulting in multi-million-dollar recoveries for his clients.
Before joining Beasley Allen, Ben graduated from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in 1993 and began law practice with Birmingham, Alabama firm Emond & Vines. He is a former partner in the Birmingham firm Hogan, Smith & Alspaugh.
A native of Ozark, Alabama, Ben is married to Kimberly Strag of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Together, they have a daughter and two sons.
Community Involvement
Ben has been actively involved in various organizations such as the Paseo movement in Alabama, which is part of the Anglican 4th-day movement. He has also served as a board member of the Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving historic structures. Additionally, he has previously held the position of board of directors’ president of The Least, a prison ministry.
- Alabama (1993)
- Georgia (1993)
- Cumberland School of Law (J.D., 1993)
- Auburn University (B.S. Architecture, 1990)
1993 – Current
Career
Representing clients in courtrooms around the U.S. including state and federal courts.
Professional Associations
Currently, Ben serves as President of the Alabama Association for Justice. He is also the Past President of the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation.
Ben is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a national organization comprised of both plaintiff and defense trial attorneys and is committed to preserving trial by jury.
Ben previously served on the Court Advisory Committee for the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Alabama Association for Justice.
Ben was previously elected to serve on the Executive Committee for the Young Lawyers Section of the Birmingham Bar Association.
Memberships
- American Association for Justice (AAJ)
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- Birmingham Bar Association (past Executive Committee Member, Young Lawyer’s Section)
- Montgomery County Bar Association
- Montgomery County Association for Justice
- Alabama Association for Justice (President)
- Alabama Civil Justice Foundation (Past President)
Notable Cases
Ben is a skilled trial lawyer and has obtained multi-million-dollar verdicts against major corporations.
Ben and Chris Glover, the Managing Attorney for the Atlanta office, worked together to secure a $12 million verdict against Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Sales USA in Anderson, South Carolina state court. They were representing the family of a high school senior who lost her life due to a defective rear axle in a Toyota 4Runner. The axle defect caused it to break, resulting in the vehicle becoming uncontrollable and rolling into a power pole.
In 2017, Ben was a member of the trial team that won $16.8 million in damages over a defective cab guard that the jury found failed to protect a log truck driver from being killed by logs that broke through the truck’s cab. He has also obtained a $12 million verdict against a cab guard manufacturer for a defective product in a crashworthiness case.
In 2014, Ben’s trial team was awarded $9.9 million by a Bessemer, Alabama jury in a case against Mazda Motor Corp. The case involved a post-collision, fuel-fed fire in a 2008 Mazda 3 vehicle that collided with a pole. Mazda had designed the vehicle inconsistent with industry standards by placing an unguarded muffler next to the fuel tank, which ruptured the tank during the impact.
In 2013, Ben was part of the trial team that won a $3 million verdict against Toyota. The case was the first in the US to claim that Toyota’s throttle control software was defective and could lead to unintended acceleration. The jury also awarded punitive damages, but the case was settled before the punitive phase of the trial.
Awards & Recognitions
Professional Accomplishments
Ben was selected as a finalist for Public Justice’s 2014 Trial Lawyer of the Year, along with the other members of the trial team, for his work in the verdict against Toyota in Bookout, et al v. Toyota that was tried in Oklahoma City in October 2013. This award is given by Public Justice to the lawyer or trial team making the most outstanding contribution to the public through precedent-setting litigation in the last year.
Ben has also been selected for inclusion in Midsouth Super Lawyers consistently from 2010 through 2023, published by Business Alabama magazine, and to Best Lawyers since 2013. He was named Best Lawyers 2021 Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs section.
In December 2008 and 2010, Ben was selected as Beasley Allen’s Lawyer of the Year for the Product Liability Section. In 2012 and 2014, Ben was selected as the firm’s Litigator of the Year. The Litigator of the Year Award is presented to the attorney or attorneys who demonstrate exceptional professional skill throughout the year and best represent the firm’s ideal of “helping those who need it most.”
Publicity
Ben has frequently lectured on legal topics for various organizations, including the Alabama Trial Lawyer Association, the Birmingham Bar Association, the Cumberland School of Law, the National Business Institute, the Southern Trial Lawyers Association and Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law.
Awards and Recognitions
- Midsouth Super Lawyers
- Best Lawyers
- Best Lawyers 2021 Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs section
- Beasley Allen Lawyer of the Year
- Beasley Allen Litigator of the Year
- Birmingham Magazine’s “Boss of the Year”
Recent News
Beasley Allen Attorneys Named 2021 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
Beasley Allen is proud to announce 24 firm lawyers received special recognition by Super Lawyers…
Best Lawyers Recognizes Beasley Allen Lawyers as Among the Best in America
Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession, recognized 28…
Twenty Two Beasley Allen attorneys named 2020 Super Lawyers
Beasley Allen is proud to announce 22 firm lawyers received special recognition by Super Lawyers…
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