This week’s speaker is Carlton Avery. He will be discussing pre-litigation mediation.

Carlton’s public service began nearly 2 decades ago from a simple desire to see his community grow and thrive. He is a lifelong resident of Montgomery, Alabama. He is a product of the Montgomery Public School system, attended and graduated Troy University in Montgomery before entering the legal field.

Carlton has worked for Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis, and Miles, P.C. (Beasley Allen) in the firm’s Mass Torts division, where he worked on landmark pharmaceutical claims including Vioxx, Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella and many other drugs. His hard work was noted in the Beasley Allen report of November 2008. Also, while at Beasley Allen, Carlton founded Contract Paralegal Services, LLC one of the first freelance paralegal services of its kind in Alabama.

After his tenure with Beasley Allen, he was commissioned by Julian McPhillips of McPhillips Shinbaum, P.C. Carlton was mentioned on several occasions in McPhillips’ autobiography, Civil Rights in My Bones when talking about his work on groundbreaking cases such as Tony Lewis, Jr. vs. City of Montgomery, Emerson Clayton vs. City of Alex City, various EEOC claims, and a group of federal cases involving Virginia College, Trenholm College, Auburn University, and Alabama State University.

Carlton has received many endorsements throughout his legal career before he began his career as a mediator.

He received the highest accommodations from Commissioner Gary Hattal of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent agency of the United States government, which provides mediation services to industries, communities, and government agencies worldwide.

Club members: Please note that club officer elections are December 7th. A form will be available at the meeting for you to nominate members for all offices and board members.