Mr. Stephen F. Thompson Jr.

Founded in 2008, and located in Birmingham, Alabama, the law firm of Stephen F. Thompson, Jr. has found success in representing plaintiffs in a variety of civil matters, including personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, Social Security Disability Appeals, and many other types of actions. We are a civil litigation firm that services the entire State of Alabama.

• Car Wrecks
• Auto Accidents

• Contingent Fees

Alabama

Since 2006

United State District Court for the Southern District of Alabama

United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Professor - Contracts, Agency & Partnerships

Birmingham School of Law

2017 - Current

Law Clerk

Hon. Michael G. Graffeo, Circuit Judge - Jefferson County Circuit Court

2007 - 2007

Law Clerk

Hon. Tennant M. Smallwood, Jr., Circuit Judge - Jefferson County Circuit Court

2004 - 2007

Birmingham School of Law

J.D. | Law

2003 - 2006

Auburn University

B.S. | Business Administration

1996 - 2001

Birmingham Bar Association

Member

2006 - Current

Q. Child’s doctors office didn’t return calls, gave bad advice over phone about 4 week old baby.

December 10, 2019

A: Alabama's Medical Malpractice law requires you to prove that your doctor breached a standard of care, and to do that, you have to find a different doctor to testify that your doctor did something wrong. You have to hire that doctor to testify for you. You have to pay them to review the records and prepare an opinion prior to testifying. And you have to pay them the kind of money that doctors make for their time. For that reason, medical malpractice claims are generally expensive to pursue. To give you a more detailed answer, you'd need an attorney to review the records.

Q. Who would be at fault in this circumstance?

December 10, 2019

A: I depends. If the other driver's battery worked, then the hazard lights should have been on. If there was an emergency lane, then the car should've been over in it and not in the middle of the road. But maybe there were reasons it wasn't.

Alabama is a contributory negligence state, which means if one party is 1% negligent and the other party is 99% negligent, then neither party recovers. So, if you are the one that is sued, then, so far, it sounds like you have a good defense that the other driver negligently contributed to his/her damages by leaving the car in the road without hazard lights on. You also sound like you were faced with a sudden emergency and had no real opportunity to avoid a collision, which is a viable defense. You haven't indicated that you did anything differently from what a reasonable person would have done. Call your insurance company and start a claim and tell them you got sued. They'll provide you with a lawyer if they're responsible to pay on the claim.

As far as whether you'd be successful suing the other driver, it's hard to say for certain; and, without knowing more, it's hard to say for even kinda certain. Cars are equipped with hazard lights, and most roads have emergency lanes for this very reason. The other driver should have used them if they were available. However, It's not an ideal starting spot to be the one that hit a motionless car from behind, and the other driver might have had good reason to leave the car in the middle of the road without hazard lights on. Maybe he didn't leave it in the road. Maybe it had just happened, and he was reaching for the hazards as you hit him, and he didn't have much time to react to running out of gas. Sometimes accidents just happen. ... Read More