ERISA and Long Term Disability Lawyer- David P. Martin
 Focusing on ERISA to better serve Alabama and the Southeast!   
Contact David Martin today so we can fight for the benefits you deserve!!!
Ph: 205-343-1771 or Toll Free at 1-800-284-9309

 

 

Attorney Profile

David P. Martin - ERISA Lawyer

David P. Martin is a 1987 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Houston at Clear Lake and attended the University of Alabama School of Law on an academic scholarship. In law school, he was honored as a Hugo Black Scholar and served on the Board of Editors for The Journal of the Legal Profession, an ethics publication for lawyers. He graduated in 1992 with honors in the top 10% of his class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

David has been named by Alabama Superlawyers Magazine as one of the top attorneys in Alabama in the area of Employee Benefits/ERISA law for 2008. He is the founder and owner of David P. Martin, LLC. Only 5% of the lawyers in the state are named by the publication and David is the only Employee Benefits/ERISA attorney named who solely represents plaintiffs.

Selections are made by law and politics, a division of Key Professional Media, Inc. of Minneapolis, MN. Each year, law and politics undertakes a rigorous multiphase selection process that includes a state wide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by law and politics, attorney led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good standing and disciplinary check. Attorneys do not pay for the honor of inclusion and the only way a lawyer can be included is through the selection process.

David is also a member of or has served with the following organizations:

  • The Alabama State Bar

  • The Board of Editors for the Alabama Lawyer, the Alabama State Bar Publication

  • The Alabama Trial Lawyers Association
     
  • The federal court bar for the 11th Circuit
     
  • The federal court bars for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Alabama

  • Tuscaloosa County Bar Association
     
  • The Alabama State Bar Task Force on Alternative Methods of Dispute Resolution, and subcommittee member for development and publication of the booklet Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures in Alabama with Mediation Model

  • Committee member and contributing author for the Addendum, a bi-monthly Alabama State Bar publication

  • Sunday School Director at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
     
  • Board member of Focus on Senior Citizens in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

  • Volunteer Lawyers Program

  • Participant in the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation

  • Seminar instructor for National Business Institute in 2003 and 2004

  • Peer rated with Martindale-Hubbell - martindalehubbell.com and lawyers.com

  • 2008 Alabama Super Lawyers

David has written articles that have been published in the Alabama Lawyer, The Journal of Legal Profession, The National Black Law Journal, The Alabama Trial Lawyers Journal, and the Alabama State Bar Addendum. He is married to Dawn Chisum Martin and has four children. His hobbies include playing the trumpet and bass guitar, landscaping and freshwater aquariums.  He has handled ERISA claims since 1992, but in the last few years ERISA claims became the focus of David's practice.


Published Cases and Articles of Interest


Court Decisions

Wright v. Hanna Steel, 270 F. 3d 1336 (11th Cir. 2001)

Hanna Steel’s health insurance plan improperly canceled coverage while Mr. Wright’s wife was struggling with Hodgkin’s disease. She died from complications. Mr. Wright sued to recover COBRA penalties and their attorney’s fees. The district court granted over $100,000 in penalties. The appeals court affirmed a penalty award of $41,062.50 for Mr. Wright alone with added attorney’s fees of $24,025.00. More attorney's fees were added on appeal. The court ruled that only one penalty per family could be recovered even though each member of the family was entitled to notice.  Click on the above link to read the full opinion or click the Article and Cases button.

Ex parte West, 797 So. 2d 1070 (Ala. 2001)

This was an automobile accident case that the injured man wanted to have decided by a judge. Late in the lawsuit, the defendant tried to switch the case to a jury trial. The judge would not allow this. On appeal the Alabama Supreme Court upheld the judge and ruled that a defendant can not rely on a co-defendant’s later jury demand if the defendant, himself, did not ask for a jury in a timely manner.


Articles

Author, "Taking Benefits Back: Reimbursement under ERISA", 69 Alabama Lawyer (January 2008)

Co-Author with Dr. Mark Prohaska, "Obtaining Neuropsychological Test Date: Why Is This So Hard", 68 Alabama Lawyer 3 (May 2007)

Co-Author with John David Collins, "Unraveling ERISA Civil Penalties", 68 Alabama Lawyer 2 (March, 2007)

Author, "The Subtle Snake: Long Term Disability Under ERISA", 66 Alabama Lawyer 279 (July 5, 2005)

Author, "Take Another Good Look at Those ERISA Cases," Alabama State Bar Addendum, Volume 7, Number 5, August 2002

Author, “Overcoming Disadvantages in Proving Medical Damages in Personal Injury Cases”, 23, Number 2 Alabama Trial Lawyers Journal 27 (Spring 2003)

Author, "Let Go of the Peanuts", Alabama State Bar Addendum, August 2006

Author, “Overcoming Deposition Jitters”, Alabama State Bar Addendum, February 2003.

Author, “File Retention Nightmares in the Small Firm,” Alabama State Bar Addendum, Volume 7, Number 3, April 2002.

Co-Author, “The Metamorphosis of Contributory Negligence to Assumption of Risk in AEMLD Cases,” 12, Number 4, Alabama Trial Lawyers Journal 20 (Fall 1992).

Author, “Communication with Unrepresented Potentially Adverse Persons,” Volume 16 The Journal of the Legal Profession 251 (1991).

Author, “The Birth of Jim Crow in Alabama 1865-1896,” Volume 13, Numbers 1 & 2 The National Black Law Journal, 184 (1993)


Lectures

Damages in Alabama Civil Trial Practice, National Business Institute, March 18, 2003.

Handling the Automobile Injury Claim in Alabama, National Business Institute, January 2004.



Copyright . David P. Martin, Attorney at Law. All rights reserved. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 7.2(e) (2002).