D&G Law

Tammy McClendon Stokes, Partner

Photo of attorney Tammy Stokes

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Email | 205-503-4512 (Direct)

Legal Assistant : Tressy Standridge
205-503-4506 (Direct)

Since joining the firm in 1998, Tammy Stokes has exercised lead roles in many of the firm’s highest profile cases. Ms. Stokes’ practice in the areas of business litigation and securities, antitrust and consumer fraud class actions has earned her an “AV Preeminent” peer-review rating (the highest awarded) from Martindale-Hubbell, a listing for Commercial Litigation in The Best Lawyers in America (2018), and recognition in B-Metro Magazine.

Ms. Stokes’ leadership roles in complex or large cases include:

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation (MDL No. 2406) ~ Class action challenging the agreements among the 37 Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance companies across the United States not to compete against one another in their home states. Ms. Stokes was appointed by the federal court supervising this litigation to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Damages Committee.

Pre-Filled Propane Tank Antitrust Litigation (MDL No. 2567) ~ Ms. Stokes is actively involved in this pending antitrust action alleging that the defendants collusively agreed to reduce fill volumes in exchangeable, pre-filled propane tanks (such as those used for gas grills) without lowering the prices they charged for the tanks.

OSB Antitrust Litigation ~ Class Counsel in this case alleging price-fixing by the manufacturers of “oriented strand board,” a plywood substitute. The case settled for $125 million.

Jefferson County Overbids ~ Tammy Stokes served as Co-Lead Class Counsel in this case on behalf of taxpayers whose properties had been sold at tax sales for overbids and who had redeemed their properties and were owed refunds of interest. A full $5.4 million recovery was obtained for the taxpayers.

Corporate America Credit Union v. Herbst, et al., (N.D. Ala.)~ Tammy Stokes was lead counsel on behalf of a large institutional investor against the officers and directors of U.S. Central Federal Corporate Credit Union, an upstream wholesale corporate credit union that sold equity interests to downstream members without disclosure of its losses in mortgage backed securities. See Corporate Am. Credit Union v. Herbst,397 Fed. Appx. 540, 2010 U.S. App. Lexis 19749 (11th Cir. 2010) (per curiam).

Dept. of Rev. of Kentucky v. Davis, 553 U.S. 328 (2008) ~ Class counsel for class of taxpayers challenging the constitutionality of states charging income tax on interest earned by its citizens on out-of-state bonds while exempting interest earned on in-state bonds from taxation.

Telecheck FCRA Litigation ~ Tammy Stokes was Lead Counsel in this Fair Credit Reporting Act class action.

“Just For Feet” Securities Litigation ~ Tammy Stokes successfully represented a large shareholder who had sold a chain of shoe stores to Just-For-Feet in exchange for stock in the company.

Farmer’s Insurance Litigation Multi-District Litigation ~ Tammy Stokes was Class Counsel in this settled Fair Credit Reporting Act class action alleging the failure to send adverse action notices.

Culpepper RESPA Litigation ~ Ms. Stokes represented the plaintiffs in this class action regarding the defendant’s improper use of “yield spread premiums” as under-the-table compensation to independent mortgage brokers to steer the brokers’ customers to the defendant. As a result of the Culpepper litigation, HUD created new rules designed to save consumers $3.75 billion per year in previously hidden fees and excessive interest rates. See Culpepper v. Inland Mortg. Corp., 132 F.3d 692 (11th Cir.), rehearing denied, 144 F.3d 717 (11th Cir. 1998); Culpepper v. Irwin Mortg. Corp., 253 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 122 S.Ct. 930 (2002).

Charter Communications Late Fee Litigation ~ Tammy Stokes was Co Lead Counsel in this settled nationwide class action against Charter Communications.

Walter Energy Derivative Litigation ~ Tammy Stokes serves as Liaison Counsel in these pending consolidated derivative actions alleging breaches of fiduciary duty by Walter Energy’s management and board members that have driven the company’s stock price from the $140s to around $12/share today.

HealthSouth Bondholder Litigation ~ Class Counsel for The Retirement Systems of Alabama and a class of institutional bond purchasers. Settlements of approximately $230 million were obtained for the bond investors. Total settlements, including the consolidated stock and derivative litigation, exceed $900 million.

• Pilot/Flying J Diesel Fuel Rebate Litigation ~ Ms. Stokes was Settlement Class Counsel in this $85 million class action settlement. Pilot Flying J, a truck stop chain was alleged to have conducted a scheme to shortchange its trucking customers on negotiated fuel discounts.

Creditline Credit Monitoring ~ Class Counsel in this settled case against a credit monitoring company

Ms. Stokes graduated cum laude from the Cumberland School of Law in 1998. While at Cumberland, Ms. Stokes served as an Associate Editor of the Cumberland Law Review and as a member of the Cumberland National Moot Court Team. Ms. Stokes obtained her B.S. in International Business from Samford University in 1995, graduating magna cum laude.

Ms. Stokes became a member of the Alabama Bar in 1998, and she has been admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the American Bar Associations, Birmingham Bar Association, National Association of Securities and Consumer Attorneys, and Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce.

Practice Areas:
Business Litigation
Securities Litigation
Antitrust Litigation
Class Action Litigation
Mortgage Lending Litigation
Lending Discrimination
Consumer Class Actions
Financial Litigation
Derivative Securities Litigation
Institutional Investors
Price-Fixing Cases
Discriminatory Interstate Taxation Litigation
Appellate Advocacy
Constitutional Law

Educational Background:
B.S., magna cum laude, International Business, Samford University, 1995
J.D., cum laude, Cumberland School of Law, 1998

Admitted to Practice:
Alabama
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama
U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

Law School Honors:
Cumberland Law Review
National Moot Court Team
Curia Honoris

Memberships:
American Bar Association
Alabama Bar Association
Birmingham Bar Association
Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce
NASCAT – National Association of Securities and Consumer Attorneys

Languages:
Spanish

Selected Published Decisions:

U.S. Supreme Court
Dept. of Rev. of Kentucky v. Davis, 553 U.S. 328 (2008)
Irwin Mortg. Corp. v. Culpepper, 534 U.S. 1118 (2002) (Denial of cert.)

Circuit Courts of Appeal
Corporate America Credit Union v. Herbst, 397 Fed.Appx. 540 (11th Cir. 9/22/2010.)
Culpepper v. Irwin Mortg. Corp., 253 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2001), rehearing denied, 273 F.3d 1118(11th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1118 (2002)
Nunnally v. Equifax Information Services, LLC, 451 F.3d 768 (11th Cir. 2006)
Heimmermann v. First Union Mortg. Corp., 305 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2002)

District Court Decisions
In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation, 26 F. Supp. 2d 1172 (N.D. Ala. June 18, 2014)
Bussey v. Macon County Greyhound Park, Inc., 2011 WL 1216296 (M.D.Ala. 2011)
In re Farmers Ins. Co., Inc., FCRA Litigation, 738 F.Supp.2d 1180 (W.D. Okla. 2010); 741 F.Supp.2d 1211, (W.D.Okla. 2010)
Dees v. Colonial Bancgroup, Inc., 2009 WL 1285424 (M.D.Ala., May 07, 2009); 2009 WL 1033258, Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 95,212, (M.D.Ala., April 17, 2009)
In re OSB Antitrust Litig., 2009 WL 579376 (3/4/2009); 2007 WL 2253418 (8/3/2007); 2007 WL 2253419 (8-3-2007)
Dujanovic v. MortgageAmerica, Inc., 185 F.R.D. 660 (N.D. Ala. 1999)
Heimmermann v. First Union Mortgage Corp., 188 F.R.D. 403 (N.D. Ala. 1999)
Culpepper v. Inland Mortgage Corp., 189 F.R.D. 668 (N.D. Ala. 1999), aff’d, 253 F.3d 1324 (11th Cir. 2001), rehearing denied, 273 F.3d 1118 (11th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1118 (2002)

News Stories

September 23, 2015
Law360, “BCBS Antitrust Players Continue Battle Over MDL Cert. Plan”

December 26, 2014
Class Action Reporter, “LME Holdings: Bid to Reconsider in Aluminum Antitrust Suit Tossed”

March 2014
b-Metro Magazine
Rising Star Lawyers and Attorneys of Note (Bio of Tammy Stokes)

June 11, 2013
Law360, “Pilot Flying J Hit With Another Fuel Discount Class Action”

July 26, 2011
Credit Union Times, “Corporate America Settles Suit Against U.S. Central”

Oct. 27, 2010
Credit Union Times, “Corporate America Credit Union Seeks Audits”

April 23, 2010
Marketwire, “RSA Announces $100 Million Settlement with UBS Warburg
and Three Individual UBS Defendants and $33.5 Million Settlement with Ernst & Young”

Feb. 19, 2009
SNL Bank & Thrift Daily, “Lawsuit Alleges Colonial BancGroup Provided Misleading Information to Investors”

Feb. 16, 2009
Birmingham Business Journal, “Birmingham Law Firm Joins Crowd Suing Colonial BancGroup”

February 18, 2009
The Montgomery Advertiser, “Colonial May Face Class-Action Suit”

Nov. 19, 2007
Class Action Reporter, “HealthSouth Corp. Conducts Intense Settlement Negotiations in Alabama”

May 22, 2007
The Bond Buyer, “High Court to Hear Kentucky v. Davis: Muni Participants: Decision a Relief”

March 14, 2007
The Bond Buyer, “More Cases Arise Challenging Taxation of Out-of-State Bonds”

May 2, 2006
Troubled Company Reporter, “HealthSouth Corp. Settles Investor Lawsuits for $445 Million”

1/25/1998
The New York Times, “A Mortgage Broker Fee on the Ropes”

1/24/98
The Washington Post, “Appeals Court Rules Some Fees Illegal”

1/26/97
The Birmingham News, “Mortgage Company Linked To Fee Lawsuit.