News Post

ALABAMA STATE BAR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017 

MONTGOMERY – The Alabama State Bar announced on Thursday the selection of attorney and past president of the Alabama State Bar J. Douglas McElvy as its acting general counsel. McElvy follows longtime General Counsel J. Anthony McLain who served the bar for more than 28 years.

“I am pleased that Doug McElvy has been selected as the bar’s acting general counsel,” said Alabama State Bar President J. Cole Portis of the Beasley Allen Law Firm (Montgomery). “I know Doug will pour his heart and soul into this position and, like Tony, he will balance mercy with justice.”

McElvy received his undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama and his law degree from The University of Alabama School of Law (1971). After graduating, McElvy clerked for Judge Charles Wright, Chief Judge of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. He is a certified mediator by the American Academy of Attorney Mediators, and is admitted to practice before all Alabama courts, all Alabama Federal District Courts, the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Tony McLain was esteemed by all who knew him, and finding a successor equal in stature will be difficult,” said Alabama State Bar Acting General Counsel J. Douglas McElvy. “I am honored beyond measure to have been asked by the bar to act as general counsel.”

McElvy served as a member of the bar’s Board of Bar Commissioners from 1991 to 2003 and served four terms on the Executive Council. He served as vice president of the Alabama State Bar (2002) and as president (2004-2005). During his tenure as president, McElvy was instrumental in initiating and establishing the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism under Chief Justice Drayton Nabers. He was a member of the Professionalism Commission since its inception, served as its chair and he was awarded the Chief Justice’s Award of Professionalism in 2010.

McElvy served on the Alabama Law Foundation Board of Trustees, which oversees investment of IOLTA funds and evaluates and approves grants for the IOLTA funds, and was also elected a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama Law School Foundation, which oversees the foundation’s funds and activities.

McElvy is a Kiwanian and has been involved in numerous organizations including the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, Leadership Tuscaloosa, West Alabama Area American Cancer Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Tuscaloosa, YMCA, West Alabama Transplant Trust Fund, Tuscaloosa Coalition for Character, Christian Legal Society of Alabama, Baptist Health Care Foundation, Legal Services Alabama and many others.

The Alabama State Bar is the official statewide organization of lawyers in Alabama and currently has more than 17,900 members. The Alabama State Bar is dedicated to promoting the professional responsibility and competence of its members, improving the administration of justice and increasing the public understanding of and respect for the law.