Mr. Latta is a corporate defense lawyer with 35 years of experience helping clients defend their products, their services, and their brand in our courts.
His peer ratings include: Martindale Hubbell (A-V), Super Lawyers (Business Litigation), and Best Lawyers in America (Insurance Law & Appellate Practice).
Mr. Latta’s trial court experience includes over 75 trials, and he serves on the Standing Committee for Alabama Rules of Evidence. He also chairs the firm’s Appellate Practice Section, having handled over 100 appeals including some landmark cases which established constitutional standards for punitive damages.
Mr. Latta is active in numerous professional associations including the American Bar Association (ABA) and Defense Research Institute (DRI). He also is a peer-selected member of the Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC) and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC).
Mr. Latta serves on the Board of Trustees of Troy University, Board of Advisors of Cumberland School of Law (Samford University), Board of Trustees of the Baptist Foundation of Alabama, and Board of Directors of the American Camellia Society. He is a Fellow in the Alabama Bar Foundation and American Bar Foundation.
Mr. Latta received his undergraduate degree from Troy University, summa cum laude, in 1980 and his law degree from Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, cum laude, in 1983. During law school he was an Associate Editor of the Cumberland Law Review and a member of the school’s award-winning National Trial Team.
Case experiences: Business litigation; product liability; Life, Health & Disability; insurance bad faith; insurance coverage disputes; excess & reinsurance; unfair claim practices; punitive damages defense; ERISA preemption; media liability; dealer/franchise termination; false advertising; unfair competition; shareholder oppression; class actions; defamation; Robinson-Patman Act; price fixing; Sherman Act; securities fraud and broker-dealer claims; Directors & Officers Liability; Errors & Omissions; Agribusiness; appeals in state and federal courts.
Publications:
- Author, “State High Court’s Rulings Indicative of Alabama’s Civil Justice Turnaround,” Washington Legal Foundation, Oct. 2012.
- Author, “To Hell and Back — Alabama Tort Reform,” Business Alabama, Nov. 2008
- Author, “Difficult Removals: Revealing the Disguise,” ABA Committee News, Fall 2007.
- Author, “Defending Insurers from Punitive Damages Claims,” For the Defense
- Author, “Redefining the Jury Role in Punitive Damages Cases,” For the Defense
- Author, “Should This Case Be Appealed,” The Alabama Lawyer, March 1999