Ashby Pate Email Address

Attorney, Lightfoot Franklin and White

Lightfoot's trial attorneys handle the most demanding and complex cases in the most difficult venues in Alabama and throughout the country. Whether you are seeking zealous representation in a high-stakes business, catastrophic injury or death case, a top notch defense in a nationwide class action, appellate counsel to handle the appeal of a runaway jury verdict, or coordinating counsel for cases pending around the country, we can help. Lightfoot, Franklin & White: When it matters.

I’m a former justice on the Supreme Court of the island nation of Palau, where I presided over hundreds of cases as a trial and appellate judge there . I helped create the country’s first jury trial system while I was there and I take great pride in that. I also served as a judicial clerk for U.S. District Court Judge U.W. Clemon, was the editor-in-chief of the Law Review for Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, and I later earned an LL.M., where I graduated first in my class and was awarded the Sir Roy Goode Prize in international law. I am a proud member of the American Law Institute, where I contribute to many of the restatement projects it publishes. I draw on this unique experience in my general commercial defense practice, which focuses on international disputes, appellate work, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and product liability. I am also a public speaker. A recent speech of mine, “Be the Light,” stresses the importance of storytelling and human connection in the practice of law. I have spoken to thousands of lawyers and judges over the past three years, and I deliver ethics and trial advocacy CLEs regularly to legal and judicial organizations all over the country.