Trial Magazine

Revered Alabama trial lawyer and longtime AAJ member Francis H. Hare Jr., known to all as “Brother,” passed away on May 31, 2019, in Birmingham after a sudden onset of pneumonia. Brother devoted his career to advocating for consumers injured by dangerous and defective products and holding manufacturers, designers, and retailers accountable.

“Brother Hare was a man of faith and intellect,” said friend and colleague Gregory Cusimano of Gadsden, Ala. “He made others around him better. His life was devoted to the law. It excited him; he loved it; and it provided him with the vision, motivation, and resolution needed to better serve his clients and the profession.”

After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1959, Brother began his law practice in the 1960s representing helicopter crash victims. He spent the majority of his career at Birmingham’s Hare Wynn Newell & Newton, which was founded by his father, Francis H. Hare Sr.

The litigation that would define his career began in the early 1970s when Brother and his father tried one of the first cases against Ford Motor Co. alleging unsafe design of the Ford Pinto. The Pinto was infamously designed with its gas tank behind the rear axle, which made it susceptible to exploding on rear impact. Ford sold the Pinto for years knowing that its gas tank had ruptured repeatedly during crash testing. After winning a verdict for his client in Alabama, Brother went to California to help Mark Robinson and Art Hews try Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co., the landmark case against Ford that resulted in the largest products liability award in history at the time, including $125 million in punitive damages. The Pinto litigation put the auto industry on notice that the legal system would not tolerate putting profits over safety. “I loved Brother Hare and will always remember him as a great asset to the Grimshaw team,” said Robinson.

After consulting on Grimshaw, Brother began devoting his time to writing and teaching, including at the University of Alabama—his alma mater—and the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. During the early 1980s, he founded the Attorneys Information Exchange Group (AIEG)—a collaborative national organization that is still thriving today—to share information and ideas among member plaintiff attorneys for the benefit of clients who have been affected by dangerous and defective products. AIEG serves members who litigate automotive product defect cases, as well as cases involving consumer product defects, trucking safety, and roadway design.

“Brother Hare was a beacon of light who has shown all of us the path to follow,” said AIEG President Jaime Jackson. “He was a unique individual who left a deep impression on all those who knew him. Brother was the essence of why AIEG exists: sharing with others. A true gentleman.”

An AAJ member for many decades, Brother served the association in myriad ways, including as a member of the Board of Governors, as chair of the Education department before the creation of the National College of Advocacy, and as a member of several committees. He won AAJ’s Tonahill Award in 1995 in recognition of his outstanding and dedicated service to and support of consumers and the trial bar. In addition, he coauthored the AAJ Press books Full Disclosure: Combating Stonewalling and Other Discovery Abuses and Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit (1st and 2d eds.).

“Brother Hare epitomized the compassionate and caring trial lawyer,” said attorney Keith Belt of Belt & Bruner in Birmingham, where Brother was of counsel for 15 years. “He leaves a long legacy as a legal scholar and advocate for the underprivileged. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

Brother was predeceased by his first wife, Sue, and is survived by his wife, Mary; his three children, Francis III, Catherine, and Amelia; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.