Sean C. Pierce's Profile

Sean C. Pierce practices law across Alabama and the Southeast.  Sean is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell and has 20 years of experience in handling management (labor and employment, D&O, corporate and commercial litigation), technology (cyber security and data privacy and protection), and professional liability (including E&O and malpractice) claims and cases, with an emphasis on complex litigation and class actions, RICO and whistleblower claims, and other bet-the-company litigation.

His experience includes defending his clients in state and federal court, before municipal, state and federal administrative boards, and in arbitration.  He serves as outside General Counsel for several clients and as both a mediator and an arbitrator.

Sean represents management and employers in all aspects of labor and employment matters, and is experienced in litigation, through trial and appeal, of matters arising under state and federal laws and regulations.  He has represented employers and the wrongly accused in the #MeToo Movement.

Sean’s practice also focuses on the counsel and defense of professional liability claims against attorneys, accountants, financial advisers and institutions (including under FINRA), engineers, architects and other design professionals (including intellectual property disputes), insurance and real estate agents and brokers, officers and directors, and health care providers, from physicians to hospitals.

He has developed an expertise in diversity and inclusion, ethics, compliance and internal investigations, and cyber security and data privacy and protection, for both medical and non-medical institutions and companies.  He is also experienced in product liability and mass, environmental and toxic tort litigation.

Sean received both his Bachelor of Science in Business and his Juris Doctorate from The University of Alabama.  He received further education at the Duke University School of Law and the University of Oxford.  He is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in Alabama and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  He is an Alabama and Mid-South Super Lawyer®, a Best Lawyer in America® for Labor and Employment Litigation, and is the recipient of many other awards.

He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Birmingham Bar Association’s Diversity/Inclusivity Committee and on the Alabama State Bar’s Diversity and Inclusivity Committee and has been a member since each’s inception.  He also currently serves as the Alabama Chapter President for the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), as the Chair of Employment Practices Liability (EPL) Committee for the Professional Liability Defense Federation (PLDF), and as Chair of Cyber Liability and Steering Committee Member for the Professional Liability Committee of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the national defense bar, and has previously served as Liaison to DRI’s Lawyers’ Professionalism & Ethics Committee and the Chair and/or Vice-Chair of the Lawyer, Real Estate and Design Professionals committees within DRI.

He is the author of many articles for DRI, PLDF and other organizations, is a frequent speaker on employment, professional liability and technology topics, and is the co-author of DRI’s “Professional Liability Insurance Coverage: A Compendium of State Law.”

Sean enjoys hunting, fishing, reading, coaching youth soccer, and spending time with his wife and sons.



Education

  • The University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, AL, J.D., 2001
  • The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, B.S. of Science in Finance, 1997

Bar Admissions

  • Alabama, 2001
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama, 2001
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama, 2001
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama, 2006
  • Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 2015

Previous Positions

  • Harbuck Keith & Holmes, Co-Founder and Member, 2015-2021
  • Carr Allison, Shareholder and Co-Chair of Labor & Employment and Professional Liability, 2002-2015

Badges