D. Leon Ashford

D. Leon Ashford


Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP

Recognized since 1991

Birmingham, Alabama

Practice Areas

Bet-the-Company Litigation

Commercial Litigation

Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs

Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs

Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs

Transportation Law

Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2025 - Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2025 - Transportation Law
Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2025 - Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2025 - Transportation Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2015 - Bet-the-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2014 - Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2012 - Bet-the-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2010 - Personal Injury Litigation
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Leon Ashford has been a trial lawyer for 42 years. Throughout the course of his career, Mr. Ashford has a proven record of consistently obtaining multimillion dollar jury verdicts and settlements for his clients, their families and their small businesses. Though he has always focused his practice on complex litigation involving catastrophic personal injuries and wrongful death, he has recently been called upon to represent family-owned and closely held businesses in litigation which threatened generations of success. When the stakes are high, he feels strongly that an experienced trial lawyer is an integral part of the team approach to litigation of complex business disputes. In addition to his busy law practice, he has been Hare Wynn’s managing partner since 1996.

Born in 1948 and raised in Athens, Alabama, Mr. Ashford was the first in his family to get a college education. He attended the University of Alabama on an Athletic Scholarship as a student trainer and earned his undergraduate degree in 1970. That same year, he was lettered by Coach Paul W. Bryant and became a member of the University of Alabama “A” Club. Encouraged by Coach Bryant to attend law school, he then earned his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1973.

Mr. Ashford has remained close to Alabama’s Athletic Department, representing two former head football coaches and the former women’s gymnastics coach. In 1994, the University Administration and Office of General Counsel asked Mr. Ashford and the firm to represent the Faculty Athletics Representative before the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee. In the first successful appeal in NCAA history, the good name of the Faculty Athletics Representative was cleared and many of the sanctions against the Athletic Department were overturned. He has also represented the current head-coach and members of his staff.

Honored by his peers as a trial lawyer, Mr. Ashford is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the Alabama Law Foundation. He has been included in the Best Lawyers in America® for the past 24 years and in Alabama Super Lawyers since its inception. In 2010, Best Lawyers® named him Birmingham “Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year” and, in 2012, Birmingham “Lawyer of the Year for Bet-the-Company Litigation.” According to Best Lawyers®, these “Lawyer of the Year” honors reflect the high level of respect Mr. Ashford has earned among his peers for ability, professionalism, and integrity. Since 2008, Mr. Ashford has been named one of the top ten attorneys in the State of Alabama by Super Lawyers magazine and was featured on its cover in 2009. For many years, Mr. Ashford has been profiled by Chambers USA as a “Tier 1″ trial lawyer for personal injury and business litigation. Benchmark Plaintiff includes Mr. Ashford as a “Litigation Star” in its national ranking of personal injury lawyers.

Mr. Ashford and his wife, Barbara, have been married for forty years. They have three children – David, Ben, and Laura – and four grandchildren – all boys! He is an active member of Canterbury United Methodist Church. He also proudly serves on the Advisory Board of Nick's Kids Foundation.

Contact & Links
Location
  • 800 Shades Creek Parkway, Suite 800
    Birmingham, AL 35209
Languages
  • English
Education
  • The University of Alabama, J.D., graduated 1973

Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2025 - Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2025 - Transportation Law Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2015 - Bet-the-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2014 - Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2012 - Bet-the-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2010 - Personal Injury Litigation
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
  • Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, Birmingham (2025)
  • Transportation Law, Birmingham (2025)
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation, Birmingham (2015)
  • Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, Birmingham (2014)
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation, Birmingham (2012)
  • Personal Injury Litigation, Birmingham (2010)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 for work in:
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
  • Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
  • Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
  • Transportation Law
Special Focus:
  • Automobile
  • Automobile Collision
  • Birth Trauma
  • Catastrophic Injury
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction
  • Medical Devices
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Motor Carrier
  • Nursing Homes
  • Personal Injury
  • Personal Injury
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Plaintiffs
  • Plaintiffs
  • Product Liability
  • Product Liability
  • Toxic Tort
  • Wrongful Death
  • Wrongful Death
Additional Areas of Practice:
  • Medical Malpractice Law
  • Personal Injury Litigation
  • Product Liability Litigation

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Publications

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