Ralph W. Hornsby

Profile by S.A. Watson, Jr.

Ralph W. Hornsby tried numerous cases before me when I was a Circuit Judge. His detailed case preparation and his absolute competence in presenting his cases made him stand out among his peers. Ralph knows how to handle a witness—both his own and his opponents’. His gentlemanly, positive approach to his cases and indeed to his life made him stand out from his colleagues, to me as a judge, and has made him the winner he has always been. When it came time for me to retire from the bench and re-enter private practice I jumped at the opportunity to form a firm dedicated to the clients’ best interests in court with my partner, Ralph W. Hornsby.

Ralph was already an acknowledged leader when I joined him. He had been elevated by his peers as President of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association. He was a sought after lecturer in the areas of trials, personal injury practice and workers’ compensation. Ralph is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama.  He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit. Ralph is a cutting-edge lawyer who, for the first time in the nation, established that punitive damages were recoverable in arbitration hearings.

Ralph understands the working man. He made his way through undergraduate school at Samford University on a track scholarship and by cutting rights of way for the Alabama Power Company. Ralph earned his B.A. in 1961 and his Juris Doctor in 1965 from Cumberland School of Law, Samford University.

In addition to being President of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, Ralph has been on the Alabama Trial Lawyers Board of Governors as well as their Executive Committee since 1975. He is also a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association and has been on its Board of Governors. He is a member of the Alabama Bar Association, the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.  Ralph is a Master of the Bench in the Madison County American Inns of Court.

Ralph has the highest rating awarded by Martindale-Hubbell and I am proud I have been able to call him partner for the last 19 years.