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Mr. Stephen F. Thompson Jr.

Birmingham School of Law
  • Personal Injury, Workers' Compensation
  • Alabama
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Biography

Founded in 2008, and located in Birmingham, Alabama, the law firm of Stephen F. Thompson, Jr. has found success in representing plaintiffs in a variety of civil matters, including personal injury, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, Social Security Disability Appeals, and many other types of actions. We are a civil litigation firm that services the entire State of Alabama.

Education
Birmingham School of Law
J.D. | Law
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Auburn University
B.S. | Business Administration
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Professional Experience
Professor - Contracts, Agency & Partnerships
Birmingham School of Law
- Current
Law Clerk
Hon. Michael G. Graffeo, Circuit Judge - Jefferson County Circuit Court
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Law Clerk
Hon. Tennant M. Smallwood, Jr., Circuit Judge - Jefferson County Circuit Court
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Professional Associations
Birmingham Bar Association
Member
- Current
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Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
Alabama
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United State District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
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United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
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Fees
  • Contingent Fees
Practice Areas
Personal Injury
Animal & Dog Bites, Brain Injury, Car Accidents, Construction Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Premises Liability, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death
Workers' Compensation
Additional Practice Areas
  • Car Wrecks
  • Auto Accidents
Legal Answers
Q. Child’s doctors office didn’t return calls, gave bad advice over phone about 4 week old baby.
A: Alabama's Medical Malpractice law requires you to prove that your doctor breached a standard of care, and to do that, you have to find a different doctor to testify that your doctor did something wrong. You have to hire that doctor to testify for you. You have to pay them to review the records and prepare an opinion prior to testifying. And you have to pay them the kind of money that doctors make for their time. For that reason, medical malpractice claims are generally expensive to pursue. To give you a more detailed answer, you'd need an attorney to review the records.
Q. Who would be at fault in this circumstance?
A: I depends. If the other driver's battery worked, then the hazard lights should have been on. If there was an emergency lane, then the car should've been over in it and not in the middle of the road. But maybe there were reasons it wasn't.

Alabama is a contributory negligence state, which means if one party is 1% negligent and the other party is 99% negligent, then neither party recovers. So, if you are the one that is sued, then, so far, it sounds like you have a good defense that the other driver negligently contributed to his/her damages by leaving the car in the road without hazard lights on. You also sound like you were faced with a sudden emergency and had no real opportunity to avoid a collision, which is a viable defense. You haven't indicated that you did anything differently from what a reasonable person would have done. Call your insurance company and start a claim and tell them you got sued. They'll provide you with a lawyer if they're responsible to pay on the claim.

As far as whether you'd be successful suing the other driver, it's hard to say for certain; and, without knowing more, it's hard to say for even kinda certain. Cars are equipped with hazard lights, and most roads have emergency lanes for this very reason. The other driver should have used them if they were available. However, It's not an ideal starting spot to be the one that hit a motionless car from behind, and the other driver might have had good reason to leave the car in the middle of the road without hazard lights on. Maybe he didn't leave it in the road. Maybe it had just happened, and he was reaching for the hazards as you hit him, and he didn't have much time to react to running out of gas. Sometimes accidents just happen.
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Websites & Blogs
Website
Contact & Map
Stephen F. Thompson, Jr. Attorney at Law
205 20th Street North
Suite 319
Birmingham, AL 35203
Telephone: (205) 335-4190
Fax: (205) 278-5875