J. Patrick Strubel

Patrick grew up in Birmingham and never seriously considered any profession other than the law. He studied history at Birmingham-Southern College, then earned his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2001. After his first year of law school, he clerked at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton.

After graduating, Patrick went into defense litigation so that he could get into a courtroom immediately as a new trial lawyer. Over the next 25 years, he represented automobile manufacturers, hospitals, physicians, nursing facilities, and corporate defendants in personal injury and wrongful death cases across Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, California, and Pennsylvania, trying dozens of those cases to verdict.

For many years, Patrick Strubel worked alongside the same defense teams that plaintiff’s attorneys go up against every day, gaining a deep understanding of how corporations and insurance companies assess, value, and fight lawsuits. As he continued to grow as a litigator, he realized it was time to use that knowledge for individuals, not corporations.

He tried a wrongful death case for a small business owner: a man who had put himself through college and built something real, now accused of causing the death of a teenager. No legal department. No corporation behind him. Just a person, terrified, whose entire life was on the line. The jury came back in his client’s favor. What Patrick carried out of that courtroom was the clarity that the individual – the one without the army of attorneys – is where this work means the most.

Patrick joined Hare Wynn not long after. When he made the decision to move to plaintiff’s work, there was one firm that made sense.

He is proud to bring something most plaintiff’s attorneys cannot offer: a complete picture of how the defense operates, built over 25 years from the inside.

Away from the courtroom, Patrick is a devoted husband and the father of two daughters. He and his wife Kathryn have been married for 26 years, and family is central to his life. They are active in their church, and in his free time, he enjoys golf, tennis, and spending time at the lake.

Patrick’s 25 years of experience has led him to his role at Hare Wynn. The side of the table may have changed, but his drive to win hasn’t.