About the Firm

The firm was officially organized in 1968 by senior partner Sam M. Phelps as a successor to the Mize, Spiro & Phelps, a Tuscaloosa firm founded in the 1940s. Since its inception, the Phelps firm has evolved to include a diverse group of attorneys with experience in all areas of the law.

Business, Tax and Corporate Division

Phelps Jenkins’ business, tax and corporate division is comprised of experienced attorneys who practice in the areas of industrial development, banking, commercial transactions, creditors’ rights, business formations, sales and acquisitions of businesses, business financing, bonds and tax-exempt financing, securities, real estate development, condominium law, health care law, employee benefits and retirement plans, labor and employment, environmental law, intellectual property, tax procedure and litigation, estate planning and administration, and trusts.

Litigation Division

The firm’s litigation division includes attorneys who have substantial expertise and experience in many different areas including employment discrimination, medical malpractice defense, motor vehicle accidents, product liability, workers compensation, school law, family law, insurance law, real estate, local government law, and business, tax, and corporate-related litigation matters. Among Phelps Jenkins’ clients are several banking and financial institutions as well as many local businesses. Phelps, Jenkins’ concentration in the litigation area is defense oriented; however, the firm routinely handles civil litigation  on behalf of plaintiffs, particularly in the areas of business and commercial litigation.

The firm’s attorneys practice primarily in the state courts of Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marengo, Marion, Pickens, Sumter and Walker counties and the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of the federal court system in Alabama. Appellate work is handled in the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits of the United States Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Personalized Legal Service

In addition to its corporate and business clients, the firm also provides counsel to individuals or businesses needing advice on a one-time basis or for a single legal matter. The Phelps firm has four partners who are members of the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution. These partners offer mediation services as an alternative to litigation.

Community Service

Attorneys at Phelps, Jenkins, Gibson & Fowler, L.L.P. take great pride in the leadership roles they assume throughout the West Alabama community.

Members of the firm serve or have served in leadership positions with a variety of non-profit and governmental organizations, including:

• Big Brothers and Big Sisters of West Alabama
• Boy’s and Girl’s Club of West Alabama
• Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama
• Civil Service Board for the City of Tuscaloosa
• DCH Foundation
• Druid City Bicycle Club
• Leadership Tuscaloosa
• Rotary Club
• Tuscaloosa City Schools Education Foundation
• Tuscaloosa Public Library Board of Trustees
• United Way of West Alabama