Practices

Class Actions
Business Litigation
Intellectual Property
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Government & Public Litigation
Energy & Natural Resources
Telecommunications
Securities Litigation
Collegiate Sports

Education

J.D., summa cum laude, University of Alabama School of Law (1999)
B.S., Rhodes College (1995)

Bar Admissions

Alabama

Courts

U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama

Jay Ezelle is a partner at Starnes Davis Florie and has been with the firm since 1999.  Jay is a current member and a former Chairman of the firm's recruiting committee.

Practice

Jay has worked on a broad variety of litigation matters, concentrating on complex, high-risk litigation. He has represented major financial institutions in numerous matters involving securities fraud in federal and state courts as well as multidistrict litigations. He has also represented numerous Fortune 500 companies in a variety of litigation including national class actions. He has represented the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama in a variety of high-profile litigation.

Highlights

* Counsel for Marshall Investments Corporation in litigation stemming from the large-scale fraud at Le Natures Inc.

* Obtained a complete dismissal for The University of Alabama and its President in litigation stemming from the termination of Mike Price, the former head football coach, in what USA Today described as one of the "top 25 biggest sports scandals".

* Represented the University of Alabama in Huntsville in an intellectual property dispute over PEGylation technology and helped UAH obtain a $25 million settlement.

* Represented and helped obtain favorable settlements for a global financial institution in the highly-publicized WorldCom and Enron multidistrict litigations.

* Currently representing a consortium of investment banks in the HealthSouth securities fraud multidistrict litigation.

* Currently representing The University of Alabama in a trademark dispute with sports artist Daniel A. Moore that has been the subject of press coverage by numerous news outlets including The New York Times, NPR and ESPN.

* Represented UAB and the UAB Research Foundation in a patent dispute relating to antiviral compounds used to treat Hepatitis B and helped UAB obtain a settlement with a minimum value of $15 million.

Honors And Awards

While in law school, Jay was elected to the Order of the Coif, the Order of the Barristers and the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society, was a Hugo Black Scholar, a Dean M. Leigh Harrison Award recipient and an editor for the Alabama Law Review. Jay was also the winner of Campbell Moot Court Competition and a member of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Team.

Community Involvement

Jay is a member of the Sunrise Rotary Club of Birmingham and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club. He is also involved in the Birmingham Athletic Partnership and attends the Cathedral Church of the Advent.

Reported Cases

The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama v. Nektar Therapeutics, Inc., 2005 WL 2335714 (N.D. Ala. 2005).

Price v. University of Alabama, 2004 WL 1253201, (11th Cir. Apr. 20, 2004).

Nichols v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., 364 F.Supp.2d 1330, (N.D.Ala. 2004).

Wisconsin Investment Bd. v. Ruttenberg, 300 F.Supp.2d 1210, (N.D.Ala. 2004).

Price v. University of Alabama, 318 F.Supp.2d 1084, (N.D.Ala. 2003).

W.R. Huff Asset Management Co., LLC v. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., L.P., 234 F.Supp.2d 1218, (N.D.Ala. 2002).

Retirement Systems of Alabama v. Merrill Lynch & Co., 209 F.Supp.2d 1257, (M.D.Ala. 2002).