News Post

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama State Bar on Saturday swore in Montgomery attorney Lee H. Copeland as the 140^th president of the 17,700-member organization.

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve as the next president of the Alabama State Bar,” said newly-installed President Lee Copeland of Copeland Franco Screws & Gill, P.A. (Montgomery). “I look forward to building on the strong foundation that has already been put in place by past presidents and bar leadership before me.”

Copeland has served on multiple committees and task forces within the bar including the Government Liaison Committee, Rules and Procedures Governing Admission, Finance and Audit Committee, Election Rules Committee, Client Security Fund Committee and various others. He has also served on the Board of Bar Commissioners for the 15^th judicial circuit since 2006.

A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Copeland received his undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama in 1979 and J.D. from The University of Alabama School of Law in 1982. Active in both undergraduate and law school, he was president of  his undergraduate fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and in law school was on the winning Moot Court Team, as well as being named the Outstanding Oral Advocate for the Moot Court competition. Copeland was also on his law school’s National Trial Court Team.

Following graduation, Copeland clerked with Judge Truman M. Hobbs, Sr., United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. He later joined Copeland Franco Screws & Gill (Montgomery), where his father had been one of the firm’s founders.

Copeland handles a wide variety of legal matters for companies and individuals. His litigation practice includes products liability, malpractice and a host of general commercial claims. Copeland Franco Screws & Gill, P.A., is a litigation firm representing businesses and individuals throughout Alabama and the Southeast for more than 65 years.

Copeland is past president of the Montgomery County Bar Association, past president of Hospice of Montgomery, past president of Goodwill of Montgomery, past president of the Red Cross of Central Alabama, fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation, fellow of the American Bar Foundation, member of the Huntingdon College Board of Trustees, member of Leadership Montgomery and many other organizations.

Copeland is married to the former Jessica Crenshaw of Birmingham, Alabama. They have two boys, Hall and Albert. Copeland and his family attend the Episcopal Church of the Ascension.

During the ceremony, J. Cole Portis of the Beasley Allen Law Firm (Montgomery) was installed as the bar’s president-elect. Portis will serve one year in this role before assuming the presidency in June 2016.