Birmingham Personal Injury Lawyer

If someone's carelessness hurt you or killed someone you love in Birmingham, you can hold that person or company responsible.

Alabama's fault rule is the first obstacle, because any negligence of yours that helped cause the injury can bar a negligence claim.

The second is insurance, since an Alabama driver can legally carry as little as $25,000 per person.

You generally have two years to sue, and only six months to reach the city clerk if the City of Birmingham is responsible.

Don Worley is admitted in Alabama, with more than 20 years of serious injury work behind him.

Call (888) 713-6653 for a free review, with no fee and no costs unless we recover.

• Car crashes. I-65, I-20/59, US 280, and Red Mountain Expressway are among the roads where these claims begin. Our page on Birmingham car accident claims covers the four places money can come from after a crash.
• Truck crashes. A carrier, its broker, and a shipper can share responsibility with the driver. See truck crash claims on Alabama interstates.
• Medical malpractice. The Alabama Medical Liability Act sets its own deadline, expert rule, and pleading requirement. See Alabama malpractice claims.
• Nursing home neglect. The same Act covers nursing homes and assisted living. See nursing home abuse and neglect in Alabama.
• Falls and unsafe property. A store, apartment, or parking lot claim turns on what the owner knew and whether the danger was open and obvious. See Alabama slip and fall claims.
• Plant and construction injuries. Workers' compensation is not always the only recovery. See who else can be sued after a work injury.
• Defective products. A failed vehicle, machine, or tool can support a claim against its maker. See product liability in Alabama.
• Wrongful death. Alabama's jury weighs the defendant's conduct, and no statute caps the verdict against a private defendant. See how Alabama families bring a death claim.

We accept cases selectively, and when we believe you do not need a lawyer, we will tell you that too.

If a City of Birmingham vehicle hit you, or a street or sidewalk defect the City knew about caused your fall, you need a sworn statement in the hands of the City Clerk, 710 North 20th Street, Suite 300, within six months. Ala. Code § 11-47-23 says tort claims "shall be presented within six months from the accrual thereof or shall be barred."^[4]

Birmingham has litigated this deadline repeatedly. In Perry v. City of Birmingham (2005), the Alabama Supreme Court held the claim must be received in that time, so do not rely on dropping it in the mail. In Fortenberry v. City of Birmingham (1990), notice to another city department did not meet the statute, so do not count on it. Filing a lawsuit within the six months also satisfies the requirement.^[5] An older 90-day local rule for Birmingham was struck down in 1983, so the statewide six months is the one that governs.

Recovery against a city is limited to $100,000 per person, so we also look for a contractor or a private driver who shares the blame. A crash with a police car can also meet the 2025 police immunity statute, which reaches the city as the officer's employer unless an exception applies. Our page on injury claims against Alabama government covers Jefferson County and state agencies too.

UAB Hospital and Children's of Alabama are both Level I trauma centers on the Alabama Department of Public Health's list, so someone badly hurt anywhere in central Alabama may end up in Birmingham.^[6] Those first records usually begin the medical proof in your case.

If the question is whether a hospital itself harmed you, ownership matters. A malpractice claim runs under the Alabama Medical Liability Act either way. A private hospital has no immunity or government limit to raise, while a hospital run by a state university can raise immunity questions, and a county or city hospital board falls under the $100,000 limit in Ala. Code § 11-93-2. We check who owned the hospital and employed the provider before anyone tells you what the case is worth.

A hospital lien can also attach to your injury recovery if you were admitted within a week of the injury, so tell us about any lien notice before you pay it or settle.

You can seek your medical care, past and future, your lost income and earning ability, and your pain, disfigurement, and mental anguish, and Alabama sets no cap on those damages against a private defendant. A permanent injury with clear fault and enough insurance is where the largest recoveries come from.

A first offer can come before anyone knows how you will heal. A jury can also hear that insurance paid your bills, so we plan the damages case around what the injury has done to your life. On clear and convincing proof of wantonness, punitive damages can add to the recovery and hold the defendant to account for how it behaved.

When a policy is too small, your own underinsured motorist coverage may add to it, if the right steps come first.

• Get treated and follow through. Gaps in care give an insurer an argument, and they can leave real injuries undocumented.
• Hold back the recorded statement. You owe the other side's insurer no statement, and small remarks matter under the fault rule.
• Find out who has video. Traffic cameras, businesses, and dashcams can record over quickly, sometimes within days.
• Keep your paperwork together. Bills, discharge papers, wage records, and every letter from an insurer help us value the claim.

A family member can call for you if you are in the hospital, and we can come to you.

Most Alabama injury lawsuits must be filed within two years, and wrongful death runs two years from the death.^[7] A claim against the City of Birmingham needs its sworn statement in six months, and a claim against Jefferson County has 12 months. The statute speaks of the county commission, and the County's own page directs a notarized claim to its Risk Management office, so we make sure both have it. A state agency's claim goes to the Board of Adjustment within one year.

An unfiled injury claim generally ends if the injured person dies of an unrelated cause, so an older or fragile person's case should be filed early. Our page on what happens when the injured person dies explains that risk.