Steven A. Benefield
Christian & Small LLP
1800 Financial Center
505 North 20th Street
Birmingham, Alabama 35203

Tel:  205.250.6634
Fax: 205.328.7234
email: sab@csattorneys.com

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PARTNER

Practice Areas
Tax
Mediation & Arbitration
Business Organization
Business Transactions
Wills, Estate Planning
  & Trust Planning
Business & Commercial
  Litigation

Admitted to Practice
Alabama, 1983

Education
Birmingham-Southern College, 1980, B.A., Political Science, summa cum laude (Dean's List)

University of Alabama School of Law, 1983, J.D.

The University of Alabama School of Law, 1985, LL.M.

Tax and Business: Mr. Benefield’s practice includes sophisticated and routine tax and estate planning for individuals and business entities including corporations and partnerships, limited liability companies, trusts and wills, general business matters, real estate matters, personal and business license, income, and excise tax matters.

Litigation: Mr. Benefield has extensive experience in civil trial work in state and federal courts for both plaintiffs and defendants. Most recently, he successfully argued to the Alabama Supreme Court to reverse a multi-million dollar verdict improperly awarded under the Alabama Trade Secrets Act. His litigation practice has included severe personal injury and death cases, product liability and premises liability, a broad range of business and commercial actions, fraud, fiduciary liability, contracts, interference with business and contractual relations, trade secrets, and construction litigation, as well as probate matters, will contests, actions to determine property ownership, suits for sale for division, mortgage deficiency, collection actions, injunctions and other equitable remedies and actions to determine individual capacity in property transfers and donative intent. He also has handled matters before the Internal Revenue Service and Alabama Department of Revenue from audit level through appeal and in the U.S. Tax Court.

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Mr. Benefield is a trained mediator by the American Academy of Attorney Mediators and the American Arbitration Association, a Charter Member of the Alabama Academy of Attorney Mediators and has served on the faculty of numerous training programs for mediators and arbitrators. He is on the panel of neutrals for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution in Montgomery, Alabama and several private ADR providers. He has mediated and arbitrated a wide variety of matters including employment discrimination matters based on race, sex, disability and age, and personal injury claims, as well as claims based on contract, fraud, real estate disputes, organizational disputes and other matters.

Professional Honors and Affiliations

• American Bar Association, Tax, Real Property and Probate Sections
• Included in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Tax Law
• Alabama State Bar Association
• Alabama Supreme Court Commission on Dispute Resolution, Chairman
• Birmingham Bar Association
• Grievance Committee, Past Chair
• Alabama Academy of Attorney Mediators
• Estate Planning Council of Birmingham

Court Admissions

• Alabama State Bar
• United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
• United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama

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