About Derek
Derek practices in the Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy group and has participated in large and small bankruptcy cases nationally. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute. Derek served several years on the Executive Board of the Young Lawyers Division of the Birmingham Bar Association. He has also served for several years as counsel to the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce and he is the President Elect for 2008. He frequently teaches CLE and instructional courses on bankruptcy to lawyers, paralegals and others. He is a graduate of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s Project Corporate Leadership. In 2005, Derek was selected by the Birmingham Business Journal as one of its “Top 40 Under 40.” In 2006, he was honored as part of the 2006 Birmingham Multiple Sclerosis Leadership Class. Derek serves as a member of the firm’s hiring committee. He is also an avid runner and completed his first Marathon in October of 2007.
Derek received his B.S. in International Business with a minor in German from Auburn University. He received his J.D. degree from Cumberland School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cumberland Law Review and was on the Student Bar Association’s Honor Court. During law school, Derek published “Telemedicine: How an Apple (or Any Other Computer) a Day May Bring Your Doctor Even Closer,” in the Cumberland Law Review, 29 CUMB. L. REV. 173 (1998). He most recently co-authored “A ‘Discriminating’ Look at Two Section 525(b) Issues”, published in the November, 2007 edition of The ABI Journal.
What is your favorite thing about the law?
The ability to solve and meet new sets of problems every day.
What community projects are you involved in?
Counsel for Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, Fundraising for 2006 Birmingham MS Leaders, active in my church.
What was your first job?
I worked at a putt-putt course.
What are your hobbies?
Restoring 1960’s muscle cars (1963-1969).
What advice would you give to a young student in law school?
Study hard. Remember what you did and who you were before law school.
How do you define a “good day?”
Arriving at work to find the perfectly brewed cup of coffee and learning my clients have either collected 100% or paid 0% as a result of my efforts. Lunch with my colleagues or clients and home in time for dinner.
How do you spend your weekend?
Restoring or driving old cars, chasing my son, and working in the yard with my wife.