Best's Insurance Professional Resources
Client-Recommended Attorneys, Adjusters and Experts
Best's Insurance Professional Resources
Client-Recommended Attorneys, Adjusters and Experts


Best's Recommended Insurance Attorneys - General Defense

3500 Blue Lake Drive, Suite 345, Birmingham, Alabama 35243

Practice Areas

  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Defense
  • Extra-Contractual Liability
  • General Liability
  • Property
  • Marine
  • Inland Marine
  • Business Interruption
  • Public Sector
  • Flood
  • Excess and Umbrella
  • Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction Law
  • State and Federal Courts
  • Employment/Non-Competition

About Us

Ely & Isenberg is a firm with extensive experience in both first-party and third-party insurance coverage matters, including extra-contractual exposure, as well as general commercial litigation.

Centrally located in Birmingham, Alabama, our lawyers are proud to represent clients throughout the State of Alabama, in both federal and state courts. In addition, we have the privilege of representing our clients in neighboring states, including Georgia and Tennessee.

As part of our insurance coverage practice, we provide advice to clients with regard to issues under both liability and property policies. We do so in order to allow our clients to make the best decisions they can regarding coverage without the need for litigation. Moreover, we assist clients with appraisals, examinations under oath, and advice in the investigation of claims. We also work with our clients to seek resolutions through alternative dispute resolution procedures, whether through mediation, arbitration, or otherwise. In the event that litigation does become necessary, either through the filing of a declaratory judgment action or in defense of a lawsuit, our lawyers vigorously represent our clients' interests wherever the case is pending - whether in state or federal court, and whether at the trial level or an appellate court.

While the majority of our practice focuses on insurance coverage litigation, all of the attorneys at our firm have experience in handling a wide variety of civil litigation, including personal injury, construction defect, contract disputes, commercial litigation, fraud, premises liability, trademark infringement, and employment matters.

As a firm, our goal is simple - to meet our client's expectations, every time, in every case, in every matter. In order to do so, we make sure to work with each client to tailor our services to that client's particular needs, and we pride ourselves in our ability to communicate timely and effectively with our clients. Most importantly, we are proud of the relationships we have built with our clients and the trust that they have placed in us. We are committed to maintaining those relationships and that trust.

Client Information

Insurance Clients

Personnel Information

Firm Members


Emily W. Bynum

Birmingham, AL

Admitted
  • Alabama, 2006
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
Memberships:
  • Alabama State Bar
  • Birmingham Bar Association
Education:
  • Rhodes College, B.A., 2001
  • Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, J.D., 2006
Honors:
Fellow, Judge Abraham Carruthers; Janie L. Shores Competition, Associate Justice; Henry Upson Sims Moot Court Board Member

Brenen G. Ely

Birmingham, AL

Practice Areas
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Declaratory Judgments
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Malpractice
  • Workers' Compensation
  • Construction Defect
  • Personal Injury
  • ERISA
  • Coverage Analysis
  • Coverage Disputes
  • Coverage Issues
  • Coverage Litigation
  • Coverage Opinions
Admitted
  • Alabama, 1994
  • Mississippi
  • Tennessee, 2022
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
  • U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits
Memberships:
  • American and Birmingham Bar Associations
  • Alabama State Bar
  • The Mississippi Bar
Education:
  • Auburn University, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1991
  • The University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 1994

Seth T. Hunter

Birmingham, AL

Admitted
  • Alabama, 2010
  • Tennessee, 2011
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
Memberships:
  • American, Tennessee and Birmingham Bar Associations
  • Alabama State Bar
Education:
  • The University of Mississippi, B.A., 2007
  • Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, J.D., 2010

Joel S. Isenberg

Birmingham, AL

Practice Areas
  • Coverage Issues
  • Declaratory Judgments
  • Labor and Employment
  • Discrimination
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction Defect
  • Coverage Analysis
  • Premises Liability
  • Automobile Liability
  • Coverage Disputes
  • Coverage Litigation
  • Coverage Opinions
Admitted
  • Alabama, 1994
  • District of Columbia, 1997
  • Georgia, 2008
  • Mississippi, 2019
  • Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
  • U.S. District Court, Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee
  • U.S. District Court, Middle and Northern Districts of Georgia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth and Eleventh Circuits
Memberships:
  • American, Tennessee and Birmingham Bar Associations
  • Alabama State Bar
  • State Bar of Georgia
  • The District of Columbia Bar
  • The Mississippi Bar
Education:
  • Tulane University, B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude), 1990
  • Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, J.D. (magna cum laude), 1994
Law Review:
Articles Editor, Cumberland Law Review

Susan Haygood McCurry

Birmingham, AL

Practice Areas
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Declaratory Judgments
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Coverage Opinions
  • Coverage Disputes
  • Coverage Analysis
  • Coverage Issues
Admitted
  • Alabama, 1996
  • Georgia
  • South Carolina, 1998
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
Education:
  • Randolph-Macon Woman's College, A.B., 1992
  • Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, J.D., 1996

Robert E. Norton

Birmingham, AL

Admitted
  • Alabama, 2007
  • Georgia, 2016
Memberships:
  • Alabama State Bar
  • State Bar of Georgia
Education:
  • The University of Alabama, B.A. (magna cum laude), 2002
  • The University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 2007

Ian P. Shippey

Birmingham, AL

Practice Areas
  • Insurance Coverage Litigation
  • Insurance Coverage Claims
  • Contract Litigation
  • Tort
  • Bad Faith
  • Breach of Contract
  • Extra-Contractual Litigation
  • Fraud
Admitted
  • Alabama, 2019
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
Education:
  • Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, J.D. (cum laude), 2019

Lauren A. Wiggins

Birmingham, AL

Practice Areas
  • Coverage Disputes
  • Declaratory Judgments
  • Extra-Contractual Litigation
  • Insurance Coverage
Admitted
  • Alabama, 2020
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Alabama
Memberships:
  • Alabama State Bar
Education:
  • Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, J.D. (cum laude), 2020

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