Annual Meeting Award Recipients and Photo Highlights, 0915 ALBJ, 76 The Alabama Lawyer 316 (2015)
| Author | Judge Langford Floyd and President Rich Raleigh |
| Position | Vol. 76 5 Pg. 316 |
Judge Langford Floyd and President Rich Raleigh
Judicial Award of Merit
The Judicial Award of Merit is the highest honor given by the Alabama State Bar to a sitting judge, whether state or federal court, trial or appellate, who has contributed significantly to the administration of justice in Alabama.
Judge J. Langford Floyd, a native of Dothan, Alabama, moved to Baldwin County in 1984 after completing law school. A former municipal judge for the City of Fairhope, Judge Floyd was also a city prosecutor for the City of Daphne and an assistant district attorney, before becoming a district judge in 1997. He became a circuit judge in 2001. Judge Floyd is a graduate of Troy State University (now Troy University) where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting in 1978 and Cumberland School of Law at Samford University where he earned his J.D. in 1984.
Judge Floyd is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps, a past member of the Troy University Alumni Association Board of Directors and a member of the Executive Board of the Alabama Circuit Judges' Association. He serves on the Military Law Committee and the Advisory Committee of the Alabama Rules of Evidence of the Alabama State Bar. He also serves on the Resolution Committee and Judicial Education Committee of the Circuit Judges' Association and as chair of the Court Technology Commission for the Administrative Office of Courts.
2015 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Award of Merit
The Award of Merit is the highest honor given by the Alabama State Bar to a lawyer, and serves to recognize outstanding constructive service to the legal profession in Alabama.
David G. Hymer is a trial lawyer with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Birmingham. Hymer's practice focuses on complex business and commercial litigation, includ ing a significant plaintiff's practice on behalf of corporate clients as well as more traditional corporate defense practice.
Hymer is chair of the Alabama State Bar Board of Bar Examiners, and has served on the board since 2001. He was instrumental in Alabama becoming the first deep-South state to adopt the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) in 2011, developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).
Hymer is a graduate of the University of Alabama where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1982, and later his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1985. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Alabama Defense Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, Alabama State Bar and Birmingham Bar Association and a fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation.
Leon Garrett is a native of Piedmont, and served as a lay member of the Alabama State Bar Disciplinary Board Panel I. Garrett received his Bachelor of Science degree in English from the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). After teaching for several years, he received his Master's in English from Columbia University in New York. Garrett later received his Master's in education administration from the University of Alabama.
Garrett taught English at Ouachita County High School in Camden, Arkansas, and later came to the Anniston City Schools. He became vice principal at Anniston High School, principal at Cobb Junior High School, assistant superintendent for the Anniston City Schools and superintendent for the Anniston City Schools.
Mike Ballard, a native of Mobile, has been in private practice for 17 years and is an instructor at the University of South Alabama within the Continuing Education Program.
Ballard received his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Alabama in 1975, his MBA from the University of Alabama in 1977 and his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1978. In 1980, he received his Master of Laws in taxation from Emory University.
Ballard is a member of the Alabama State Bar Probate Section and Client Security Fund Committee, as well as the Mobile Bar Association Probate and Bankruptcy sections. He is also active with the Baldwin Bar Association and Mobile...
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