Photo courtesy of Shannon Raley.
Sharon Stuart has been elected as the new president of the Birmingham Bar Association.
Sharon Stuart’s passion for the legal system started early.
“My father was a lawyer, so my interest in the law began when I was a young girl,” she said. “I was on the debate team early in high school, which furthered my interest in advocacy. My dad always encouraged me to pursue law, and he was proud when I did.”
Now Stuart — a partner with Christian & Small LLP and the president and claims counsel of Attorneys Insurance Mutual of the South — is starting a new chapter in that journey. She will serve as the Birmingham Bar Association’s president for 2024.
The BBA — composed of about 3,200 lawyers, judges and law students — is the state’s largest bar association.
“I am thrilled to lead the Birmingham Bar Association this year, as we focus on the future through strategic planning, with perspective from our past, as we plan for the association’s 140th anniversary next year,” Stuart said.
The anniversary events in 2025 will likely include several commemorative events culminating in a big celebration, she said. “We will also reinvigorate an oral history project started a few years ago to ensure we capture the voices of bar leaders who have helped our association grow and thrive over the years.”
Stuart has been actively involved in the BBA since she started her law career and has held a variety of leadership roles, including a three-year term on the executive committee. She has also been involved with the Alabama State Bar and served as president of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association.
She said she’s excited about helping set the direction for the BBA as it “fulfills its purposes of maintaining honor and dignity of the profession, promoting the administration of justice, exercising a constructive influence among our members, promoting legal reform, cultivating a spirit of collegiality and goodwill among our members and furthering their continuing legal education.”
She’s also excited about carrying on the Students Today Lawyers Tomorrow program, started by immediate past President Marcus M. Maples.
The bar is a collegial, friendly one, Stuart said.
“Historically, we fight hard for our clients but remain friends when the case is over,” she said. “Regardless of the type of law we practice — civil, criminal, transactional, government — we work together on bar activities, which fosters camaraderie. Since we get to know each other, our bar has a smaller-town feel, even though the legal opportunities in Birmingham are similar to those in bigger cities.”
Stuart grew up in Homewood and graduated from Homewood High School, then she and her husband built a house in Greystone in the early 1990s.
“We’ve been there ever since,” Stuart said.
In December, when Stuart was elected president, the bar also elected Robert E. “Bob” Battle, a founding partner of Battle & Winn LLP, as president-elect and Rebecca A. Beers, a partner at Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell, as secretary-treasurer.
For more information about the BBA, visit birminghambar.org or follow the association on Facebook @BirminghamBar, on Instagram @birminghambarassociation or on X (formerly Twitter) at @Birmingham_Bar.
