practice to representing individuals and families who have suffered serious personal injuries and wrongful death. Throughout his career, French has handled numerous cases, which have resulted in multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients. French is a lifelong resident of Birmingham. He graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education with a concentration in English in 1995. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in1998. After graduating from law school, French served as a law clerk for Justice Ralph D. Cook of the Supreme Court of Alabama. French is married to Judge Elisabeth A. French, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge. They have three children. French is an active member of the Living Stones Temple Church, where he serves as the church musician.
Honora Gathings Founding Partner, Gathings Law
Gathings is a founding partner in Gathings Law. She is from St. Petersburg, Florida, where she continued on to earn a bachelor of science degree from Florida State University in 1975. She is a 1978 graduate of Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. While in law school, Gathings served on the Moot Court Board from 1976–1978 and was also associate editor of The American Journal of Trial Advocacy. Gathings has been involved in complex litigation, including business tort litigation, toxic, environmental, and pharmaceutical tort litigation, serious personal injury, consumer class actions, products liability, fraud, and international law. Gathings has been involved in church, civic, and community activities in her spare time. She has been married to Lloyd W. Gathings for more than 30 years. They have two daughters, Honora and Margot. Gathings has actively been a board member of The American Journal of Trial Advocacy Foundation. In addition, she plays an important role in mentor programs for Cumberland School of Law. She is a mentor for freshman law students, Women in Law, and The American Journal of Trial Advocacy.
Chris Giattina
CEO, GAStudio and BLOX An architect, manufacturer, and contractor, Giattina thinks everything can be made better. Designing training facilities for Honda and Kia introduced him to manufacturing methods that he saw could improve the traditional design and construction process. He now leads two companies: GA Studio and BLOX. GA designs buildings that have changed the landscape of downtown— most recently, the new Birmingham intermodal transportation terminal. BLOX designs, engineers, manufacturess and installs large complex modules into health care construction. BLOX works for health care companies across America and is changing how health care facilities are constructed. ALMA MATER Georgia Tech; The University of Pennsylvania. ON MY BUCKET LIST To make something that matters PASSION Designing and making things TOUGHEST CHALLENGE Either establishing BLOX within an industry highly resistant to change; helping raise my kids SMARTPHONE APP Uber and the 8tracks music app
Beau Grenier
Chairman of the Board, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP Grenier joined Bradley Arant in 1983 and has spent his entire career there. He focuses on general corporate law, securities, and mergers and acquisitions. Grenier’s work includes the acquisition and divestiture of various types of businesses, as well as venture capital and other corporate finance transactions. He has been responsible for numerous large transactions involving acquisitions or divestures in the manufacturing, information technology, health care, and other industries. ALMA MATER The University of Virginia BEVERAGE OF CHOICE A glass of nice red wine TOUGHEST CHALLENGE Leading our firm through a merger and the economic downturn at the same time FAVORITE CHARITY The United Way of Central Alabama FAVORITE MUSICIAN Van Morrison DESSERT Bread pudding
Everett Hatcher President, CMH Architects Inc.
Hatcher is also a founding principal of CMH, which he formed in 1980 after working for several design firms and serving on the design faculty at the Auburn University School of Architecture. Hatcher designed The Summit in Birmingham in 1996, which was one of the first projects to establish the open-air lifestyle center concept in the United States. Since then, he has been Principal-in-Charge of over 60 successful lifestyle and mixed-use projects. He has done projects all over the United States and in Japan. His architectural career highlights a strong specialization in the planning and design of retail, institutional, educational, and corporate facilities. He designed the first Alabama building to be LEED Gold Certified by the U.S Green Building Council. ALMA MATER Auburn University TOUGHEST CHALLEGE Starting my firm FAVORITE CHARITY The Nature Conservancy SMARTPHONE APP HuntStand DESSERT My wife’s chocolate chip Christmas cookies
Steve Heninger Principal, Heninger Garrison Davis, LLC
Heninger earned a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois in 1972. After spending two years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he earned his J.D. degree (Summa Cum Laude) from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1977. He served as a law clerk to Honorable James H. Hancock, District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama before beginning his practice as a trial lawyer specializing in the litigation of personal and commercial tort actions. He has been listed by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 10 Lawyers in Alabama for the past four years. He has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America (Woodward & White) since 1991. He is a fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation, which limits its membership to the top 1 percent of the State Bar. www.BHMBIZ.com
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