Richard Dorman, Retired

After graduating Oxford, Richard Dorman moved to Mobile, AL in 1973 and practiced there until 2009. He was a partner at the prominent Mobile law firm, Cunningham Bounds. In 2011, he moved to Birmingham and joined Badham & Buck. Richard’s practice primarily focused on actions involving consumer fraud, product liability, banking, commercial law, warranty law, building products and, more recently and almost exclusively, with class actions. He has been the principal class counsel on several class actions in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, involving approximately four million homeowners and nearly one billion dollars in recovery for class members in those cases. He was co-lead trial counsel in the State of Alabama’s $11.9 billion verdict against ExxonMobil for underpayment of royalties, and won a national class action settlement in the Circuit Court of Mobile County against Georgia Pacific, among many other noteworthy class action and complex litigation cases.

EDUCATION:

University of Oxford, England (1972); degree in International Law; University of Alabama School of Law (J.D. 1971); Editor of the Alabama Law Review; Order of the Coif; University of Alabama School of Commerce and Business Administration (1968); joint majors in business and pre-law with undergraduate honors

ACTIVITIES AND HONORS:

  • Member of the Board of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and Legal Counsel to the board for 4 years
  • Member of the Board of the YMCA for 6 years
  • Member of the Board of Catholic Social Services for 4 years
  • Member of the Board of the Mobile Arts Council for 5 years
  • Member of the Board of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra – 10 years
  • Member of the Board and Chairman of the Senior Citizens Center – 12 years
  • Co-chaired a capital campaign for the Senior Citizens Center and raised 3.5 million dollars
  • Received the Mobile Chapter of the Alabama Philanthropic Society for volunteer work in connection with Katrina and financial contributions to various local organizations
  • Professor at the University of South Alabama teaching International Law

ADMITTED:

1971, Alabama, New York and District of Columbia; U.S. Supreme Court; Supreme Court of Alabama; United States Court of Federal Claims; all U.S. District Courts in Alabama; Federal Court of Appeals; U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th and 11th Circuit

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:

Examiner for the Alabama Board of Bar Examiners in Uniform Commercial Code; Member, Alabama Trial Lawyers Association; South Alabama Trial Lawyers Association; Mobile Bar Association; Board-certified Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy; Member, the International Network of Boutique Lawyers (President, Alabama Chapter)

COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS:

Richard is very active in community affairs including the Senior Citizen Services (Board of Directors 2000 – 2014; Board President 2005 – 2009); Mobile Symphony Board of Directors (2003 – 2014); University of Alabama President’s Cabinet (1999 – present); University of Alabama Law School Foundation Executive Board (2004 – present); Atticus Finch Society (2006- present); Honorable Robert G. Kendall, III Endowment Scholarship Committee (2005 – 2008); Board, Alabama Bar Foundation (2008 – 2013); Board, Alabama Legal Services (2008 – present); Downtown Mobile Alliance Board of Directors (2006 – 2011); Historic Mobile Preservation Society Advisor (2005 – present); and Port City Pacers, Azalea Trail Run Elite Athlete Coordinator (1984 – 2003).