Balch & Bingham Partners Named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2025 40 & Under List

Balch & Bingham congratulates six litigators who have been named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2025 40 & Under list, recognizing the nation’s top litigation talent under the age of 40.

The annual list honors accomplished young attorneys who continue to demonstrate excellence in their field and are regarded as rising stars in litigation. 

Balch’s Litigation Practice includes more than 90 attorneys handling a wide variety of disputes, covering almost every area of the law. A key strength of the practice is Balch’s work in heavily regulated industries including energy, environmental, financial services and healthcare. Balch attorneys regularly serve as national and regional counsel, representing clients in federal and state courts across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals. 

The Balch attorneys recognized this year include:

Robert Baxley
Robert Baxley is a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office and a member of the Litigation Practice. He has a diverse litigation practice, specializing in commercial and business disputes, complex litigation, class actions and appeals. He has a track record of successfully navigating companies through class actions, trade secret, non-solicitation and non-compete matters, toxic tort litigation, and complex breach of contract cases. He has handled appeals in three federal circuits, and has extensive experience in Alabama’s appellate courts.  

Thomas DeBray
Thomas DeBray is a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office and a member of the Litigation Practice. He maintains a diverse civil litigation practice, handling cases involving real property damage or disputes, defending alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, wrongful death and personal injury claims, environmental litigation, and general business disputes.

Elizabeth Flachsbart
Elizabeth Flachsbart is a partner in the Birmingham office and a member of the Litigation Practice. She maintains  a diverse practice in the area of general commercial litigation, with particular experience in casualty claims, electrical contact cases, environmental litigation, personal injury and death claims, product liability defense, insurance, construction and patent claims. She represents state and local utility companies, insurance companies, and private corporations and manufacturers.

Brooke Gram
Brooke Gram is a partner in the Atlanta office and a member of the Litigation Practice. Her practice focuses on litigation of commercial disputes and the acquisition of property rights and real estate litigation. Brooke regularly represents owners and operators, including investor-owned utilities, not-for-profit cooperatives, and other public power companies, of nuclear and electrical power plants in all aspects of pre-dispute strategy, litigation and dispute resolution.

Joe Leavens
Joe Leavens, a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office and a member of the Construction and Litigation Practices, has negotiated hundreds of millions of dollars in construction contracts on projects of all sizes on behalf of owners, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. Joe has extensive experience negotiating and litigating mid-project and post-completion legal matters including payment claims, liens, bond claims, construction defect claims, warranty claims and delay analyses in both the courtroom and in arbitration.  He has tried numerous cases to judge and jury verdicts and appeared before state and federal trial courts, the Eleventh Circuit and the Federal Communications Commission.

Meghan Pieler
Meghan Pieler is a partner in the Atlanta office and a member of the Litigation Practice, focusing on products liability actions and commercial disputes. Meghan regularly handles a wide variety of cases, including catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death actions, commercial disputes, fire cause and origin claims, and medical negligence actions. Meghan defends electric utilities in high-stakes personal injury cases and property damage disputes. She also handles the general defense of construction, contract and tort claims for a variety of clients.