About Ernest Cory

Ernest 'Ernie' Cory (1955-2025) was the Co-founder of Cory Watson Attorneys in Birmingham, Alabama. He practiced law for more than 40 years with a focus on dangerous drugs, defective medical devices, products liability, mass torts, and class actions.

Cory earned his Juris Doctor from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and his Bachelor's degree summa cum laude from the University of Alabama. He grew up in Birmingham and graduated from Vestavia Hills High School. He was admitted to the Alabama State Bar.

Cory founded his firm more than two decades ago. Under his leadership, Cory Watson served more than 150,000 families and recovered more than $4 billion in settlements and verdicts. His honors include Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year in Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2018), Best Lawyers in America (2014-2026), Mid-South Super Lawyer (2008-2025), and AV Preeminent peer review rating.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Cory Watson Attorneys

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

Cory Watson's Jon Conlin, a co-lead lawyer on the plaintiffs' steering committee, helped drive DuPont and Chemours to a $670.7 million global settlement resolving about 3,550 C-8 water-contamination cancer and injury claims.

U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohio (MDL 2433) · 2017Product LiabilityRead the full story →

A federal jury in Columbus found that DuPont's C-8 contamination caused Travis Abbott's testicular cancer and awarded him and his wife $50 million. After the trial court applied Ohio's cap on his wife's loss-of-consortium damages, the enforceable judgment came to about $40.3 million, which the Sixth Circuit later affirmed.

Columbus, Ohio (U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohio) · 2020Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$25 millionVerdictTop 20 of 2017 · #20

A Los Angeles jury found a defective brake sensor in a 2004 Infiniti QX56 caused the 2012 Hollywood crash that killed a mother and her two daughters, and the $25 million verdict was later upheld on appeal.

Los Angeles, CA (Superior Court of California) · 2017Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$12.5 millionVerdictTop 20 in Ohio · #20

A Columbus federal jury awarded Kenneth Vigneron Sr. $2 million in compensatory and $10.5 million in punitive damages after finding DuPont's C-8 contamination caused his testicular cancer.

Columbus, Ohio (U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohio) · 2017Product LiabilityRead the full story →
$9 millionVerdictTop 20 in Alabama · #18

A Lee County jury awarded the family of 20-year-old Auburn University student Hope Johnson $9 million, a county record, after urgent care doctors missed the blood clots that killed her.

Lee County, AL (Opelika) · 2019Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →

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

Practice areas

Education

University of Alabama
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Alabama
American Association for Justice
Birmingham Bar Association
Birmingham Bar Foundation (Life Fellow)
Alabama Civil Justice Foundation (Charter member)

Awards & recognition

Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year - Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2018)
Best Lawyers in America (2014-2026)
Mid-South Super Lawyer (2008-2025)
America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators
AV Preeminent (Martindale-Hubbell)
Top 50 Alabama Attorneys - Super Lawyers

Other attorneys at Cory Watson 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
Marsh, Rickard & Bryan
Marsh, Rickard & Bryan
$30 Million Verdict After Trauma Surgeon Started Second Elective Surgery While Gunshot Patient Bled Out
Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys
Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys
$20.73 million · Horry County Jury Returns Record $20.73 Million Against Myrtle Beach Lifeguard Contractor in Drowning of Father Caught in Rip Current
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.