About J. Culpepper Sawyer III

J. Culpepper 'Pep' Sawyer III spent more than 22 years inside the insurance industry, 13 at State Farm and nearly a decade at Progressive, before earning his J.D. from Birmingham School of Law in 2007 and crossing over to represent the injured. That carrier-side background gives him an unusually precise read on how adjusters value claims. A 1985 University of Alabama graduate admitted in Alabama, he is a member of American MENSA and the International Society of Philosophical Enquiry.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

These results are credited to Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

$20.73 millionVerdictTop 20 in South Carolina · #10

Christopher Pracht, now with Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys' South Carolina team, was trial counsel for the estate of Zerihun Wolde when an Horry County jury returned a $20.73 million verdict against Lack's Beach Service, the private company staffing lifeguards on the stretch of Myrtle Beach where Wolde drowned in a rip current in 2018. The South Carolina Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the verdict in July 2025, and the case is credited with ending the dual-role lifeguarding model on Grand Strand beaches.

Horry County Court of Common Pleas, South Carolina · 2022Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$18 millionVerdictTop 20 in Alabama · #9

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys took U.S. Army veteran Zachary Lucas's case to trial after Progressive offered $12,500 for a crash that fractured his skull and left him with permanent brain damage. On November 7, 2019, a Jefferson County jury unanimously awarded $18 million.

Jefferson County Circuit Court, Alabama · 2019Car AccidentsRead the full story →
$15 millionVerdictTop 20 in Alabama · #12

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys' Andrew Moak, with co-counsel from Turnbull, Holcomb & LeMoine, won a unanimous $15 million wrongful death verdict on August 5, 2022, for the estate of a nine-year-old boy with sickle cell anemia who died in 2013 while in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. The Montgomery County jury found the boy's DHR caseworker and foster caregiver responsible for delaying the medical care that could have saved him.

Montgomery County Circuit Court, Alabama · 2022Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$12 millionVerdictTop 20 in Alabama · #14

Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys represented ten of the fifteen passengers who sued the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority after a MAX Transit bus driver lost consciousness and overturned a loaded bus into a ravine in Fairfield, Alabama. On December 11, 2017, a Jefferson County jury awarded $12 million, including $6 million in punitive damages, after hearing that the authority had kept the driver behind the wheel despite two prior fainting episodes.

Jefferson County Circuit Court, Alabama · 2017Car AccidentsRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Birmingham School of Law
J.D., 2007
University of Alabama
Undergraduate, 1985

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Alabama

Other attorneys at Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys

View firm →

Proven verdicts and settlements from other Birmingham firms

Hare Wynn Newell & Newton
Hare Wynn Newell & Newton
$1.51 billion · Hare Wynn Serves as Co-Lead Class Counsel in $1.51 Billion Syngenta Settlement for U.S. Corn Farmers
Cory Watson Attorneys
Cory Watson Attorneys
$671 million · DuPont C-8 Water Contamination: $671 Million Settlement After a String of Trial Wins
Marsh, Rickard & Bryan
Marsh, Rickard & Bryan
$30 Million Verdict After Trauma Surgeon Started Second Elective Surgery While Gunshot Patient Bled Out
Heninger Garrison Davis
Heninger Garrison Davis
$64 million · Federal Jury Awards $64 Million to Charity Bingo Developers Blocked by VictoryLand
Hollis, Wright & Clay, P.C.
Hollis, Wright & Clay, P.C.
$10 Million Verdict for Deputy Mauled by Unmuzzled Police K-9 During Training

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.