Keith Jackson

Keith Jackson earned his law degree from the Emory University School of Law, where his peers selected him to the National Moot Court Team and named him Emory’s Best Oral Advocate and the faculty tapped him for membership in the Order of Barristers and Lamar Inn of Court. Mr. Jackson is a founding partner of Riley & Jackson, P.C. He has litigated complex civil cases for over 25 years and chairs the firm’s mass tort division. For most of his legal career, Mr. Jackson has focused on representing individuals catastrophically injured by the careless acts of individuals and businesses, defective medical devices, and unreasonably dangerous pharmaceutical drugs. Mr. Jackson also represents local governments that have suffered financial harm through the wrongful conduct of multinational corporations.

Mr. Jackson currently leads the court-appointed State of Alabama Local Government Executive Committee in the ongoing opioid nuisance abatement litigation. As part of this work, he advocates on behalf of over 275 local governments and Special Districts that are pursuing cases against opioid supply chain participants.

Mr. Jackson was part of a small team of attorneys that originated litigation regarding the Intuitive da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical system, which resulted in a 9-figure recovery for injured patients throughout the country. The da Vinci litigation also resulted in two product improvements – a safer tip cover design to prevent thermal spread and a change in materials used in manufacturing the surgical trocars to prevent thermal leakage. He previously served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Cook IVC Filter MDL, where he chaired the science subcommittee and co-chaired a discovery subcommittee. Mr. Jackson has been actively involved for two decades in other mass tort litigation, including claims filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, aqueous film-forming foam (“firefighting foam”), IVC filters, recalled Stryker hip implants, hernia and transvaginal mesh injuries, Xarelto, RoundUp, Philips CPAP machines, and others.

As part of his trial advocacy practice, Mr. Jackson has recovered tens of millions of dollars for the firm’s clients. He and his partners secured a $10,000,000 jury verdict in a third-party criminal act premises liability case, which was one of the top 50 wrongful death verdicts in the country in 2019. A small sampling of other jury verdicts and settlements Mr. Jackson has secured include a $15,000,000 settlement in an 18-wheeler collision case, a $3,250,000 jury verdict in a medical malpractice case, a $1,750,000 jury verdict in a negligent insurance procurement case, $27,000,000 in recoveries in BP oil spill litigation, a $525,000 jury verdict in a foot injury case, and a $3,500,000 settlement in an auto injury case.

Mr. Jackson has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers , National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and National Trial Lawyers Top 25 Mass Tort Lawyers.  He is a member of the Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum and was named Best of the Bar by the Birmingham Business Journal and Birmingham’s Best Lawyers by Birmingham Magazine.  Mr. Jackson is an AV rated attorney, reflecting the highest attainable level of professional achievement and ethical integrity as voted on by his peers.

Mr. Jackson is active within the Alabama State Bar, having served as the chairperson for the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum and as a member of the Editorial Board of The Alabama Lawyer.  He is also active within his community, where he serves on the Homewood Athletic Foundation Board and supports the clean water charity NeverThirst.  Mr. Jackson is married to the former Tricia Dawkins of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two sons, William and Evan.

Bar Admissions

• Alabama
• Georgia
• Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
• U.S. District Courts, Georgia
• U.S. District Courts, Alabama

Education

• Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia
  
  • Honors: Emory’s National Moot Court Team
  • Honors: Best Brief, Regional Qualifying Competition, New York Bar Association National Moot Court Competition
  • Honors: Emory’s Best Oral Advocate
  • Honors: Order of Barristers
• University of Alabama

Presentations

• Handling the Traumatic Brain Injury Case (Alabama Law Weekly, Tort Conference)
• Establishing Potential Areas of Hospital, Corporate, and Institutional Liability in Medical Malpractice Cases (National Business Institute Seminar)
• Common Themes and Defenses in Medical Malpractice Cases (National Business Institute Seminar)
• Testimonial and Documentary Evidence (National Business Institute Seminar)

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Alabama Association for Justice, Member
• American Association for Justice, Member
• Birmingham Bar Association, Member
• Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum, Chairperson
• The Alabama Lawyer, Editorial Committee