Wayne Morse Jr.

Wayne Morse is an A-V rated lawyer (Martindale-Hubbell''s highest rating).  His office is in Birmingham, but he represents plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts throughout the South.  He is a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, which honors experienced trial lawyers and litigators.  Within the Litigation Counsel of America, he has been tapped into two elite honoraries, the Order of Justitia and the Order of Certus, based on his winning trial and appellate records respectively.   He has been recognized as one of Birmingham's "Top Attorneys" in a vote by other attorneys.   

Morse has represented a wide variety of clients, corporate, government and individual, from financial institutions to law firms, from fired government employees to persons involved in will contests, from business executives involved in employment disputes to hospitals investigating gender harassment. The cases he has handled cover a wide range of subject matters, including, but not limited to fraud, business torts, insurance coverage, bad faith denial of insurance claims, federal and state employment matters, RICO, civil rights violations, legal malpractice, personal injury and antitrust. Although Morse purposefully has not specialized or limited his practice, he has spent considerable time focusing on commercial, civil rights and employment litigation. Morse has extensive experience representing clients in numerous Title VII, age and disability discrimination, Family Medical Leave Act, and ERISA cases.  He represented the City of Tarrant, Alabama before the Supreme Court of the United States in an important civil rights case, and has also litigated in the Supreme Courts of Alabama and Tennessee and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Morse has devoted time to pro bono cases.  In August 2010, he filed an Amicus Curiae brief for the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in support of a petition for writ of certiorari for a death-row inmate.  The case is Cory Maples v. Richard Allen, Case No. 10-63.  He has been a faculty member of the Bibb Allen Trial Academy for the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association.

Morse is married to Amy Baddour Morse.  His father was a highly decorated Marine who served the United States in two wars.  

Highlights

*  Obtained dismissal of putative class action against City of Birmingham alleging civil rights violations because Municipal Court Magistrates were allegedly inadequately trained.

*  Recently obtained a verdict and judgment in a wrongful death lawsuit in favor of a forestry management company accused of negligently performing an urban forestry management plan.

*  Currently, representing Estate as litigation and trial counsel in complex commercial litigation against one of nation's largest private companies.

*  Currently representing as litigation and trial counsel public agency in FLSA lawsuits involving more than 50 plaintiffs.

*  Obtained judgment for national law firm in legal malpractice lawsuit..

*  In 2010, prevailed in three appeals before the Supreme Court of Alabama.

*  Recently obtained a defense judgment for Birmingham law firm in Fair Debt Collections Practices Act lawsuit.

*  In 2010, successfully defended a Board of Education in two Title VII lawsuits.

*  In 2010, successfully defended a bank against claims of fraud in connection with loan commitments.

*  Successfully defended an Alabama Fire District in case involving catatstrophic injuries.

*  Successfully defended a private paramedic company in wrongful death case of teen's cardiac arrest.

Bar Admissions

Alabama and Tennessee; Supreme Court of the United States; United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama; United States Tax Court.

Education

Samford University, J.D., 1976 (Phi Delta Phi); Birmingham-Southern College; B.S., 1972 (Omicron Delta Kappa).

Professional Honors

Highest possible rating, AV, by Martindale-Hubbell; Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (an honor society for experienced and effective litigators and trial lawyers); Council on Litigation Management; Dean's Cabinet, Samford University, Cumberland School of Law; Named one of region's "Top Attorneys" by Birmingham magazine; Master of the Bar in Birmingham Inns of Court.

Professional Associations and Memberships

American Bar Association; Alabama State Bar; Birmingham Bar Association; Defense Research Institute; Alabama Defense Lawyers Association; Rotary Club of Birmingham; Newcomen Society; Honored for fundraising and support for Multiple Sclerosis.

Publications

Death Actions for Federal Violations in Alabama, Vol. No. 1, Samford (Cumberland) Law Review; ABC's of ERISA: An Alabama Perspective, Vol. 57, No. 7, Alabama Lawyer; Oops It Happened Again: Inadvertent Disclosure Under New Federal Rule of Evidence 502(a), Pretrial Practice and Discovery Committee Newsletter, Summer 2009; regular contributor to Litigation Counsel of America's Litigation Commentary & Review on commercial law issues.