Mr. Rutherford has represented a wide range of defendants in over 40 class actions spanning the last twenty years and all across the Southeast. He has represented clients such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., GE Capital Corporation, USX, SouthTrust Bank, Fleet National Bank, Carnival Cruise Lines, Mutual of Omaha, Lowe's Home Centers, Liberty National Life Insurance Company, BancBoston Mortgage Corporation, and American General Finance, Inc. These cases claimed systemic violations against the defendants in the sale and distribution of products. Many of the class action cases against these clients were defeated at an early stage of the case through aggressive use of dispositive motions. Other cases against these clients were successfully defended on a class-wide basis through an emphasis on how the claims of individual class members differed and how each would be subject to unique defenses, all of which served to defeat class treatment of those claims. Throughout his career, Mr. Rutherford has handled numerous commercial lawsuits - at the trial and appellate levels - on contract, tort, franchise, antitrust, securities, and tax matters. He has recently served as lead counsel for the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") in a series of defamation cases arising out of the NCAA's investigation of the University of Alabama's football program. All have been successfully defended. Mr. Rutherford has also represented numerous clients in defending arbitration agreements in consumer retail and credit transactions. He has worked with several national clients in drafting arbitration agreements, with a particular emphasis in drafting agreements that minimize clients' exposure to class action litigation in both judicial and arbitral proceedings. Mr. Rutherford has also been a frequent lecturer on class action topics. He has made presentations at American Bar Association meetings, Alabama State Bar meetings, Birmingham Bar Association meetings, and at seminars hosted by local law schools. Mr. Rutherford is listed in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and Best of the Birmingham Bar in the field of commercial litigation. He is the former chairman of the firm's Litigation Section and a former member of the firm's Executive Committee. Mr. Rutherford is an active member of the Defense Research Institute and the Alabama Defense Lawyer's Association. Mr. Rutherford received his B.A. in 1980 from Auburn University. He earned his J.D. in 1983 from the University of Alabama, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, a Hugo Black Scholar and a M. Leigh Harrison Scholar. Mr. Rutherford graduated at the top of his class and also served on the Editorial Board of the Alabama Law Review and is the author of Reforming the Common Law: A Factor Analysis for Alabama Courts (34 Alabama Law Review 631 (1983). He was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1983. Following law school, Robert served as Law Clerk to The Honorable Truman M. Hobbs, Chief U. S. District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama. Memberships & Bar Associations American Bar Association
Member, Litigation Section
Member, Business Law Section
Member, Torts Trial and Insurance Section Alabama State Bar Birmingham Bar Association |