Brady, Holly A.

JAMES A. BRADFORD, a Partner in the Birmingham office, has over 30 years of experience in representing individuals and companies in a wide range of litigated matters involving contract, eminent domain, environmental, insurance, landlord/tenant, professional negligence, real estate, tort, and wills and estates law. In recent years, his practice has become more concentrated in the area of real estate law, including the law of titles, title insurance, real estate information services, eminent domain, and land use and planning. A significant portion of his practice is now devoted to eminent domain proceedings on behalf of condemning authorities and to the evaluation and resolution of coverage issues and claims on behalf of a number of title insurance underwrites, title agents, and providers of real estate information services, including the defense of first-party and third-party actions and the pursuit of negotiation and litigation to cure or establish title. He currently serves as Chair of the firm's Real Estate Litigation Focus Group.

Mr. Bradford has served as trial counsel in dozens of cases in federal and state courts on behalf of condemning authorities, title insurers, title agents, and insured lenders and owners. He has also represented real estate appraisers and real estate inspectors in suits arising from their involvement in real property transactions. In addition to handling appeals on behalf of clients, Mr. Bradford has represented the American Land Title Association, the Alabama Land Title Association, the Business Council of Alabama, title insurance underwriters, and public utilities in amicus curiae submissions to the Supreme Court of Alabama.

In 1996-97, he served as Chair of The Title Insurance Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. In 2000, he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He is also a member of the International Right of Way Association, Alabama Defense Lawyers Association, and Defense Research Institute. Since 2003, he has served as a member of the Alabama Board of Bar Examiners.

Outside the office, Mr. Bradford has devoted much of his community service in the support of public and private education. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Sewanee: The University of the South from 2003-2009, and since 2008, has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Advent Episcopal Day School in Birmingham, Alabama. He currently serves as a member of the English Advisory Committee of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Arts and Humanities, and has previously served as a member of the Counseling and Guidance Committee of the Birmingham City Schools System.