Allen Brinkley
Allen maintained a diverse trial and appellate practice spanning nearly five decades. In his early years, he tried many criminal cases some of which reached the appellate courts, including Clift v. State, 352 So. 2d 836, 838 (Ala. 1977) murder, and Benedict v. State, 494 So. 2d 865 (Ala. Crim. App, 1986) manslaughter. In the civil arena, he obtained the largest personal injury verdict, ever rendered to date, in Madison County in 1981, which was the subject of an appeal in Martinson v. Cagle, 454 So. 2d 1383 (Ala. 1984). He set the record for the largest verdict, ever rendered to date, in Madison County in 1983, in Spragins v. First Alabama Bank, at $2.1 Million. That case went to the Supreme Court of Alabama three times, first on mandamus prior to trial, then two appeals 475 So. 2d 512 (Ala. 1985), 515 So. 2d 962 (Ala 1987). In 1983, he again set the record for the largest verdict ever rendered in Madison County at $8.25 Million in Stewart v. ATEC, which was the subject of three appeals at 628 So. 2d 467 (Ala. 1993), 652 So. 2d. 270 (Ala. Civ. App. 1994) and 674 So. 2d 1296, 1300 (Ala. Civ. App. 1995). He tried many medical malpractice cases. See Jones v. Bradford, through Bradford, 623 So. 2d 1112 (Ala. 1993), Wells v. Storey, 792 So. 2d 1034 (Ala. 1999) and Williams v. Robinson, 512 So. 2d 58 (Ala. 1987), 69 A.L.R. 4th 861.
Allen was involved in extensive trust and estate litigation over the years including Rodenhauser v. Doss, 819 So. 2d 616 (Ala. 2001), Howard v. Spragins, 350 So. 2d 318 (Ala. 1977). Salters v. Salters, 55 So. 2d 169 (Ala. 1989). He also was involved in considerable fraud and business litigation including Reliable Mechanical v. Integrated Construction, 781 So. 2d 207 (Ala. 2000), Dean v. Myers, 466 So. 2d 952 (Ala 1985), Farm Country Homes v. Rigley, 404 So. 2d 573 (Ala. 1981), Magic Homes v. Jolly, 539 So. 2d 303 (Ala. Civ. App. 1988), Menedez v. Colsa Inc., 852 So. 2d 768 (Ala. Civ. App. 2002) and
Lankford v. Witmondt, 528 So. 2d 850 (Ala. 1988).
Allen remained married to the former Melissa Crute of Huntsville until his death. Melissa and Allen had two children, John (Kristen) and Rebecca Brady (Jimmy), and twelve grandchildren.
BAR ADMISSIONS
Supreme Court of Alabama, 1974
Supreme Court of the United States, 1977
Supreme Court of Tennessee, 2001
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS
Local Bar President
Alabama Trial Lawyer Association, 1978-2022
- Executive Committee, 1987-2022
- Board of Governors
Alabama State Bar
Tennessee State Bar
Association of Trial Lawyers of America