John Neiman

John Neiman is a go-to lawyer for clients with high-stakes appeals. In recent years, John has helped clients obtain reversals by the Alabama Supreme Court of an $11.4 million jury verdict in one case and an $18 million jury verdict in another. In a recent Eleventh Circuit case, he helped a client obtain vacatur of a trial court’s decision not to compel arbitration of a $66.5 million bad-faith insurance claim. He also serves as embedded appellate counsel at high-stakes trials throughout the U.S., preserving the clients’ objections for appeal and arguing motions for judgment as a matter of law. A former U.S. Supreme Court clerk and Solicitor General of Alabama, John chairs the Firm’s Appellate Practice Group that strives to provide clients the highest level of appellate advocacy at value-driven rates.

At any given time, John has multiple cases pending in the Alabama Supreme Court and Eleventh Circuit, but he also represents clients in a wide array of cases throughout the country. In recent years John has presented oral argument for insurance-sector clients in the highest appellate courts in both California and New York. John has appeared for alcohol-industry clients in the Supreme Court and the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits. As state Solicitor General from 2011 to 2014, John argued two merits cases at the United States Supreme Court.

John is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business distinguishes him as a Band 1 leading attorney in the area of Appellate Litigation. Best Lawyers® named him the region's 2017 and 2021 "Lawyer of the Year" for Appellate Practice.

Community & Professional

• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
• American Bar Association; Appellate Committee Chair (2012-2013)
• American Law Institute
• Eleventh Circuit Appellate Practice Institute Planning Committee (2014)
• Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, Advisory Committee (2011-present)
• Alabama State Bar
• Birmingham Bar Association
• Living River, Board of Directors (2011-2015)
• Leadership Birmingham Class of 2014-2015
• Alabama Leadership Initiative Class of 2012

State appellate courts:

• Ex parte HuffingtonPost.com, Inc., No. 1200871, 2022 WL 3334419 (Ala. Aug. 12, 2022) (obtained ruling that client had immunity from state-law claims under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act)
• Ex parte Ass'n of Cnty. Commissions of Ala. Liab. Self-Ins. Fund, Inc., No. 1210183, 2022 WL 2188195 (Ala. June 17, 2022) (obtained ruling that client was immune from liability for wrongful-death actions);
• Naftel v. State ex rel. Driggars, No. 1200755, 2022 WL 497474 (Ala. Feb. 18, 2022) (defended client's judicial appointment against constitutional challenge)
• Cannon v. Lucas, 346 So.3d 949 (Ala. 2021) (obtained reversal of $18 million adverse jury verdict and remand for new trial)
• Protective Life Ins. Co. v. Apex Parks Grp., LLC, 322 So.3d 1027 (Ala. 2020) (obtained reversal of $11.4 million jury verdict against client and rendering of judgment for client as matter of law)
• Davis v. Chilton County Health Care Auth., Nos. 1180876 & 1180969 (Ala. Mar. 13, 2020) (no-opinion affirmance and dismissal in appeals challenging funding mechanism for client’s operations)
• MetLife Sec., Inc. v. Brandt, No. B282949, 2018 WL 6616097 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 18, 2018) (successfully orally argued case involving request for attorney fees)
• R.L.C. Trust v. Garrison Decatur Crossings, LLC, 266 So.3d 690 (Ala. 2018) (successfully defended judgment in lawsuit seeking invalidation of long-term lease)
• Ex parte Birmingham Airport Auth., 274 So. 3d 964, 965 (Ala. 2018) (obtained writ of mandamus requiring dismissal of all claims against client due to statutory immunity defense)
• Hasting v. Bentley, No. 1150009 (Ala. Jan. 21, 2016) (obtained dismissal of appeal for Governor in case challenging his decision to remove Confederate flags from state capitol grounds)

Federal Courts of Appeals:

• True Homes LLC v. CMH Mfg., Inc., No. 21-1532, 2022 WL 17091858, at *1 (4th Cir. Nov. 21, 2022) (obtained affirmance for client in defense of $100 million trademark claims)
• Levy v. W. Coast Life Ins. Co., 44 F.4th 621 (7th Cir. 2022) (successfully orally argued for client in life-insurance dispute)
• Stewart v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., 43 F.4th 1251 (11th Cir. 2022) (successfully orally argued defense of summary judgment for client in ERISA dispute)
• Campbell v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins., No. 21-5621, 2022 WL 620151 (6th Cir. Mar. 3, 2022) (obtained ruling for client in life-insurance dispute)
• James River Ins. Co. v. Ultratec Special Effects Inc, 22 F.4th 1246 (11th Cir. 2022) (obtained ruling for client in coverage dispute over wrongful-death claims)
• Ascent Hosp. Mgmt Co., LLC v. Emps. Ins. Co. of Wausau, No. 21-11924, 2022 WL 130722 (11th Cir. Jan. 14 2022) (obtained ruling for client in COVID- related business- interruption loss coverage dispute)
• McCullough v. AIG Ins. Hong Kong Ltd., 828 F. App'x 704 (11th Cir. 2020) (obtained vacatur of denial of client’s motion to arbitrate $65 million bad-faith claim)
• WM Mobile Bay Envtl. Ctr., Inc. v. City of Mobile Solid Waste Auth., 972 F.3d 1240 (11th Cir. 2020) (certifying questions to Alabama Supreme Court relating to execution of $6 million jury verdict for client)
• Robinson v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 958 F.3d 1137 (11th Cir. 2020) (obtained affirmance of dismissal of claims against client for infestation of home by brown-recluse spiders)
• Carruth v. Bentley, 942 F.3d 1047 (11th Cir. 2019) (obtained affirmance of dismissal of Section 1983 claims against former Alabama governor over conservation of credit union)
• Griffin v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., 898 F.3d 371 (4th Cir. 2018) (successfully orally argued case raising novel questions about ERISA standard of review)
• Landeros v. Pinnacle Recovery, Inc., 692 F. App'x 608 (11th Cir. 2017) (successfully defended, by court appointment, judgment of district court declining to certify class action under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)
• DeCoursey v. Am. Gen. Life Ins. Co., 822 F.3d 469 (8th Cir. 2016) (in insurance case, orally argued and defended summary judgment issued on plaintiff’s claims against client and obtained reversal of summary judgment on client’s counterclaim against plaintiff)

U.S. Supreme Court:

• Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Ass'n v. Thomas, 139 S. Ct. 2449 (2019) (amicus brief for Center for Alcohol Policy in dormant Commerce Clause challenge to state alcohol laws)
• Packingham v. North Carolina, 137 S. Ct. 1730 (2017) (filed amicus brief for state and local government organizations defending constitutionality of law regulating sex offenders)
• Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016) (filed amicus brief for prosecutors’ organizations concerning juvenile sentencing)
• Comptroller of Treasury of Md. v. Wynne, 135 S. Ct. 1787 (2015) (on team that filed amicus brief for state and local government groups in case concerning power of government to tax income earned out of state)
• Nat’l Labor Relations Bd. v. Noel Canning, 134 S. Ct. 2550 (2014) (as Alabama Solicitor General) (lead counsel for Alabama and 17 other amicus States in U.S. Supreme Court merits case concerning constitutionality of President’s appointments to NLRB)
• Shelby Cnty. v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013) (as Alabama Solicitor General) (lead counsel for Alabama as amicus in U.S. Supreme Court case concerning constitutionality of portions of Voting Rights Act)
• Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012) (as Alabama Solicitor General) (argued U.S. Supreme Court merits case on constitutional issues concerning juvenile sentencing)
• Maples v. Thomas, 132 S. Ct. 912 (2012) (as Alabama Solicitor General) (argued U.S. Supreme Court merits case on right to counsel)

Recognition

• Chambers USA, Leading Practitioner in Litigation: Appellate (2015 - present)
• The Best Lawyers in America© for Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation (2016 – present); Civil Rights Law (2018 - present); Bet-the-Company Litigation (2019 - present)
• Best Lawyers® 2017 and 2021 "Lawyer of the Year" for Appellate Practice
• Super Lawyers “Top 50 Lawyers in Alabama” (2018, 2019)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers for Appellate (2016 - present)
• Alabama Super Lawyers for Appellate (2011, 2015)
• National Association of Attorneys General "Best Brief Awards," Brief for Respondent, Miller v. Alabama; Brief for Respondent, Maples v. Thomas (July 2012)
• Birmingham Magazine's "Top Attorneys" for Appellate (2017)
• Birmingham Magazine's "Best Attorneys" (2011)