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Leila Watson

Proven Verdicts
Co-founder & Principal at Cory Watson Attorneys
Memphis, TN40 years experience

About Leila Watson

Leila H. Watson is a Co-founder and Principal of Cory Watson Attorneys in Birmingham, Alabama, with over 40 years of legal practice.

Watson earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law and her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is admitted to practice in Alabama and Tennessee.

Watson notably represented Jett Williams in a case establishing her as Hank Williams Sr.'s natural daughter, updating Alabama law so no other heir would have to shoulder the burden of finding their inheritance on their own. She secured Alabama's first double-digit million-dollar wrongful death verdict at $15 million. Her honors include Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year in Personal Injury Litigation (2018) and Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2014), Super Lawyers Top 10 Alabama Attorneys, and American Bar Foundation Life Fellow. She has served as Birmingham Bar Association President (2017) and as Alabama Chapter President of the American Board of Trial Advocates (2023).

Proven verdicts and settlements

$9 millionVerdict

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 →
View all 8 proven verdicts →

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

Practice areas

Education

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Alabama
State Bar of Tennessee
Alabama Bar Association (At-Large Commissioner, 2021-present)
American Board of Trial Advocates - Alabama Chapter (President, 2023)
Birmingham Bar Association (Past President, 2017)
American Bar Foundation (Life Fellow)
Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions Committee (Chair, 2021-present)

Awards & recognition

Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year - Personal Injury Litigation (2018)
Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year - Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2014)
Super Lawyers Top 10 Alabama Attorneys (2008-2025)
AV Preeminent (Martindale-Hubbell)
B-Metro Magazine Hall of Fame Honoree (2019)

Other attorneys at Cory Watson Attorneys

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Memphis firms

Donati Law
Donati Law
$4.9 million · $4.9 Million Settlement: Shelby County Jail Inmates Held Past Release Dates After Odyssey Software Rollout
Greer Injury Lawyers
Greer Injury Lawyers
$38.8 million · Memphis Jury Awards $38.8 Million in Regional One Birth Injury Case
Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu & Montesi, PLC
Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu & Montesi, PLC
$50,000 · Tennessee Court of Appeals Affirms $50,000 Crash and Loss-of-Consortium Verdict for Shelby County Couple
NST Law Injury Attorneys
NST Law Injury Attorneys
Tennessee Supreme Court Upholds Full Medical Bills for Injury Plaintiffs in Dedmon v. Steelman