Related Practices
Biographical Information
Ben Goldman is a member in the Law Firm of Hand Arendall Harrison Sale LLC, a full-service civil firm with offices throughout Alabama and in the panhandle of Florida. He is Chair of the Firm’s State and Local Government Practice Group, Chair of the Firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditors Rights Practice Group, and a former member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. Since 2001, Goldman has practiced in Birmingham as a litigator, successfully defending clients through all stages of federal and state court litigation, including trial and appeal. He has represented over 75 Alabama municipalities, utilities, development boards, and other governmental entities. Furthermore, Goldman has served as corporate counsel to local, regional, and national businesses, representing them in a broad scope of matters.
In 2020, Goldman was commended as a “Hometown Hero” by the Alabama League of Municipalities. In 2012, Goldman received the International Municipal Lawyer Association’s Daniel J. Curtin Young Public Lawyer of the Year Award as the top public lawyer under 40 in the U.S. and Canada. Among his recognitions, Goldman has been named a “Rising Star Lawyer” by the Birmingham Business Journal, a “Super Lawyer,” an “Alabama Rising Star” and “Top Rated State, Local & Municipal Attorney” by Super Lawyers in multiple years, a 2012 “Top 40 Under 40” by the Birmingham Business Journal, as one of the inaugural “Rising Stars of the Bar” by B-Metro, and as a “Top Attorney” by Birmingham Magazine. He is a recipient of The Literacy Council’s Distinguished Partner Award and the National MS Society Leadership Award. Goldman is a Fellow of the Birmingham Bar Foundation. He is a graduate of the IADC Trial Academy hosted by Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, California, and he is a graduate of the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum Class 7.
Goldman graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Spring Hill College. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law where he was a member of the National Trial Advocacy Team, a member of the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society, a Student Bar Association Senator, and an Honor Court Justice.
In service to his community, Goldman is a member of the Birmingham Bar Foundation Board of Directors, serving as its Vice President for 2024. Goldman is past President of the Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys, a former member of the Birmingham Bar Association Executive Committee, former Chair of the Birmingham Bar Association Grievance Committee, a former member of the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama Board of Directors, former President of the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham Board of Directors, former President of the Tarrant-Pinson Valley Chamber of Commerce, and a former member of the Family Promise of Birmingham Board of Directors.
Admissions
- Alabama State Bar, 2001
- Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama
Education
- J.D., University of Alabama School of Law, 2001
- B.S., Spring Hill College, magna cum laude, 1998
Additional Information
Civic and Professional Affiliations
- Birmingham and Alabama Bar Associations
- Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys
- International Municipal Lawyers Association
- American Bankruptcy Institute
Awards and Recognitions
- Recognized by Super Lawyers as the “Top rated state, local & municipal attorney in Birmingham, Alabama”
- Named a Fellow of the Birmingham Bar Foundation (2021)
- Recognized by the Alabama League of Municipalities as a “Hometown Hero” (2020)
- Recognized by Super Lawyers as a Mid-South Super Lawyer
- Recognized by Super Lawyers and Business Alabama as an Alabama Super Lawyer
- Recognized by Birmingham Magazine as a “Top Attorney”
- Recognized by B-Metro as a “Rising Star of the Bar” (2013)
- Awarded the International Municipal Lawyers Association’s “Daniel J. Curtin Young Public Lawyer Award” as the top public lawyer under 40 in the U.S. and Canada (2012)
- Selected by the Birmingham Business Journal for Birmingham’s “Top 40 Under 40” (2012)
- Recognized by Super Lawyers and Business Alabama as an “Alabama Rising Star” (2010, 2012, 2013)
- Graduate of the Alabama Ass’n of Nonprofits – Nonprofit Board Leadership Institute (2011)
- Graduate of the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum, Class 7 (2011)
- Recipient of the National MS Society Leadership Award (2010)
- Graduate of the IADC Trial Academy, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, California (2009)
- Recipient of The Literacy Council’s Distinguished Partner Award (2008)
Publications and Presentations
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys, Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham’s Building Communities Conference, Tarrant-Pinson Valley Chamber of Commerce, the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the Arkansas City Attorney Association, the Central Alabama Fire Marshal’s Association, Alabama Municipal Clerks Annual Conference, Alabama League of Municipalities Annual Convention, Alabama League of Municipalities Economic Development Academy (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2022)
- “Land Bank Report,” Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2021)
- “Clerks & Attorneys (Besties for the Resties),” Ala. Certified Municipal Clerks & Master Municipal Clerks Training Institute (2021)
- “Strategies for Economic Development,” Industrial Network Group (2021)
- “Municipal Lessons Learned in COVID-19,” Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2020)
- “A Liens Study,” Ala. Certified Municipal Clerks & Master Municipal Clerks Training Institute (2020)
- “Solutions for Neighborhood Nuisances,” Alabama City/County Management Association (2020)
- “Home Is Where the Heart Is,” Alabama League of Municipalities Annual Convention, Ala. Certified Municipal Clerks & Master Municipal Clerks Training Institute (2019)
- “Hot Topics in Local Government Law,” Ala. Certified Municipal Clerks & Master Municipal Clerks Training Institute (2018)
- “Ask Your Attorney Panel,” Alabama League of Municipalities Annual Convention (2017 – 2019)
- “The Nuances of Nuisances,” Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys, Alabama Association of Municipal Clerks and Administrators (2017)
- “Record-Breaking Record Keeping,” Master Academy for Municipal Clerks (2017)
- “Public Nuisance Roundtable,” Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2015)
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the Alabama Municipal Clerks Annual Conference (2014).
- “How to Solve Your Nuisance Problems,” presented to the Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2014).
- “Pay It Forward: Compensating Municipal Agents, Officers, Employees & Independent Contractors,” presented to the Alabama Certified Municipal Clerks & Master Municipal Clerks Training Institute (2014)
- “Alabama Public Records Law for Municipal Officials,” presented for Lorman Education Services (2014)
- “Shielding and Defending Police Officers from Suit,” presented for M Lee Smith Publishers (2014).
- “Take it to the Bank(ruptcy): Handling Municipal Claims in Bankruptcy Litigation,” presented to the Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2014).
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the Central Alabama Fire Marshal’s Association (2014).
- “Nip It in the Bud! Police Liability Claims,” presented for the National Business Institute (2013).
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the Arkansas City Attorney Association (2013).
- “On Deposit and Earning Interest: The (Achievable) Future of Land Banking in Alabama,” presented to the Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2012).
- “How to Pave Your Way for a Successful Career,” presented to the University of Alabama School of Law (2012).
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the International Municipal Lawyers Association (2012).
- “Broken Bank” Class 8 Project, presented to the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum (2012).
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham’s Building Communities Conference (2011).
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the Tarrant-Pinson Valley Chamber of Commerce (2011).
- “Fight the Blight, and Make it Right,” presented to the Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2011).
- “Service Above Self,” Tarrant Pinson Valley Rotary Club (2009).
- “Legal Aspects of ADA on Campus,” Gadsden State Community College Faculty (2007).
- “Employment Law Update,” Alabama Association of Municipal Attorneys (2003).
