Barry A. Ragsdale

Barry is a trial and appellate lawyer in our Birmingham office. Barry represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial and business litigation, including antitrust, shareholder, and closely held corporate disputes and class actions. Barry also represents parties in trust and estate litigation in both state and federal courts. He represented on a pro bono basis the only death row inmate to have her death sentence commuted by an Alabama governor in more than fifty years.

Why did you become an attorney?

I have wanted to be a lawyer since I was in high school and I had the opportunity to watch the Alabama Supreme Court hear oral arguments in an appeal involving the death penalty. I was a competitive high school and college debater, so the law was a natural fit. I truly believe that the law is a noble calling and I have never regretted my decision to become a lawyer.

What is the best part of your job?

I love matching wits with my adversary to achieve the best possible outcome for my client. Since my work involves complex and high-stakes litigation, the best outcome can sometimes be negotiating a favorable settlement but can also involve aggressively representing my client in and out of court. Litigation and courtrooms are unfamiliar territory to most of my clients, and I value the opportunity to guide them through it as efficiently and productively as possible.

What are you most proud of in your practice?

I am proud of the results that I have been able to achieve for my clients. Success in litigation is measured in many ways, but I know that my clients will never be outsmarted, outmaneuvered, or outworked by the lawyers on the other side. I am very proud of my success rate in the most complicated cases, as well as in simpler ones. I take seriously my responsibility to protect and serve my client’s interests.

Awards and Accreditations

•The Best Lawyers in America
•AV-Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating
•Mid-South Super Lawyers

Recognition

•The Best Lawyers in America

•Appellare Practice (2014-2019)
•Commercial Litigation (2016-2019)
•Best Lawyers Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year in Birmingham (2015)
•AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating

•Mid-South Super Lawyers

•Business Litigation (2010-2017)
•B-Metro Magazine

• Top Lawyer (2018)
•Birmingham Magazine (2009)
• Top Attorney in Appellate (2009)

Speeches and Publications

•Author, Appellate Practice Today , Sirote's Appellate Law Blog

•Speaker, Advanced Litigation Techniques: More Than Just the Nuts and Bolts, Alabama Association of Matrimonial Lawyers, December 2013

•Speaker, “Writing Effective Briefs to the Eleventh Circuit,” Eleventh Circuit Appellate Practice Institute, February 2013

•Keynote Speaker, Alabama Probate Judges Association, Winter Conference, January 2013

•Author, Reflections on the Retirement of Justice Thomas Woodall, BBA Bulletin, 2012

• Appellate Court Treatment of Certified Questions, ABICLE, May 2008
• Problems and Pitfalls in Settlement Agreements, ABICLE, December 2007
• How to Remain Professional During the Discovery Process, ABICLE, November 2007

• Federal Jurisdiction, Removal and Remand, Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, December 2007

• Recusal and Disqualification of Appellate Judges, with Justice Tom Woodall, ABICLE, February 2007

•Keynote Address, My Heroes Have Always Been Lawyers, Birmingham Bar Association Bench and Bar Retreat, Marriott Prattville Capitol Hill, February 2007

• Precedent on Appeal: I Fought the Law and the Law Won, ABICLE, February 2006
• Ethics Issues in the Handling of Tort Cases, ABICLE, December 2005

• Practical Ethics for Litigators, Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, December 2005

• Professionalism: Extra-Judicial (and Injudicious) Comments in Handling the High Profile Appeal, ABICLE, February 2005

•Speaker, The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: The Expansion of Federal Jurisdiction and the Impact on Class Actions, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 2005

• Recent Developments in Punitive Damages, Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, December 2004

• Avoiding Arbitration, Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, October 2004

• Ethical Issues Involving Lawyer Criticism of Judges, ABICLE, October 2004
• Deceptive and False Advertising Claims Under the Lanham Act, ABICLE, May 2004
• Extra-Judicial Criticism of Judges: This Judge Is a Crook, and Stupid Too!, ABICLE, May 2004
• The Slow Death of Class Actions and the Rise of Multi-Party Litigation, Birmingham Bar Association Annual Meeting Seminar, December 2002

• Recent Developments in Discovery and Evidence, Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, December 2002

• Handling the Class Action Appeal, ABICLE, October 2002
• Arbitration 2001: What’s Left To Fight About?, Birmingham Bar Association, September 2001
• Practical Litigation Ethics, Birmingham Bar Association, September 2001
• Some Random Things That You May Have Always Wanted to Know About Appellate Practice, ABICLE, February 2001
• Appellate Oral Argument, Birmingham Bar Association, December 2000

News

•Sirote & Permutt Announces 47 Attorneys Selected as The Best Lawyers in America for 2016
•Sirote’s Jack Neal and Barry Ragsdale Receive Alabama State Bar 2015 President’s Award
•Sirote & Permutt Announces 28 Attorneys Selected As Alabama Super Lawyers 2015
•Sirote's Davis, Friedman, Ragsdale and Williams Named Among B-Metro's 2015 Top Flight Lawyers
•Sirote's Cooper, Hutchins, and Ragsdale Designated Lawyers of the Year for 2015
•Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Woodall Appointed by Sirote & Permutt to Head its Mediation and Arbitration Practice Group
•Sirote & Permutt Attorneys Included in The Best Lawyers in America for 2015
•Sirote & Permutt's Neal and Ragsdale Receive Alabama State Bar President's Award
•Sirote & Permutt Announces 28 Attorneys Selected As Alabama Super Lawyers 2014
•Sirote's Barry Ragsdale to Present Mock Argument on Historical Birmingham Civil Rights Case
•Sirote & Permutt Attorney Barry Ragsdale to Speak at Alabama Association of Matrimonial Lawyers Seminar
•Best Lawyers Recognizes 46 Sirote Attorneys as the Best Lawyers in America for 2014
•Sirote & Permutt Announces 30 Attorneys Selected as Alabama Super Lawyers 2013
•Sirote Attorney Barry Ragsdale to Play Major Role in National Anti-Trust Suit Against Blue Cross Blue Shield
•Supreme Court Justice Tom Woodall Joins Sirote & Permutt's Appellate Practice Group
•Barry Ragsdale to Speak at the Eleventh Circuit Appellate Practice Institute
•Sirote's Barry Ragsdale Keynote Speaker for Alabama Probate Judges Association
•Barry Ragsdale Writes about Justice Tom Woodall's Retirement
•Mullins, Wright and Ragsdale to Speak at ABA Fall Trust Conference
•Birmingham Magazine Recognizes 17 From Sirote As Top Attorneys
•Sirote's Ragsdale Selected as Keynote Speaker at Birmingham Bar Association Bench & Bar Retreat
•Sirote Attorney Selected as Speaker for Alabama Federal Judge Biannual Meeting
•Sirote & Permutt Adds Five Attorneys in Litigation, Tax, Mediation and Family Law