President Donald Trump announced Monday the appointment of Austin Huffaker, Jr. to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
Huffaker is a shareholder at Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, P.A, where his practice focuses on complex commercial, product and lender liability and professional malpractice litigation. Huffaker also serves as a commissioner of the Alabama Securities Commission and as a member of the Alabama Civil Jury Charge Committee.
Huffaker has a degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University where he graduated cum laude. He got his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law where he graduated magna cum laude. At the University of Alabama, he was a member of the Alabama Law Review and was a Hugo Black Scholar.
Huffaker regularly defends attorneys against claims of professional negligence and financial institutions in state and federal court against a variety of legal theories, including wrongful foreclosure, breach of contract, fraud and violations of the FDCPA, FCRA, TILA, Regulation Z, CFPB regulations and bankruptcy stay/discharge.
He has been retained to assist insureds and insurance companies with guidance and representation in insurance coverage disputes. Moreover, being based in Montgomery, Alabama, he is regularly appointed as a deputy attorney general by the state of Alabama to represent its interests in a variety of litigation, including contract and Title VII actions.
Huffaker has managed attorneys in other states handling complex litigation for clients nationwide. He has directly handled complex litigation as counsel in federal or state cases in Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Washington.
Huffaker has been appointed to the ALI Committee to Review and Propose Changes to Article VI of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, which governs the state judiciary. He is a member of the Alabama Civil Jury Charge Committee, the Alabama State Bar Committee Governing the Unauthorized Practice of Law, is an officer/director of the Federal Bar Association for the Middle District of Alabama and chairs the Search Committee for Appointment of Federal Magistrate Judge in the Middle District of Alabama.
Huffaker has arbitrated and tried over 40 cases over the previous 15 years. He has handled over 40 appeals over the previous 10 years, including all Alabama state appellate courts, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Kentucky Supreme Court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
He is a board member of Landmarks Foundation, Inc.
Fellow Rushton Stakley attorney J.C. Love III is a candidate for Mayor of Montgomery.
Huffaker still has to be confirmed by the Senate.
