Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Ashley Madison customers revealed: Personal-injury lawyer, who is married to attorney at Alexander Shunnarah firm, appears at extramarital-affairs site


Chris and Stephanie Emens Balzli
(From Tuscaloosa News)
A young Birmingham attorney, who already has brought in more than $3.2-million in personal-injury cases, appears as a paying customer at the Ashley Madison extramarital-affairs Web site, according to publicly available documents. His wife is an attorney at perhaps Alabama's most widely advertised law firm.

Christopher J. Balzli, who had been with the Weaver Tidmore law firm since 2014, focuses on wrongful death, medical negligence, trucking accidents, auto accidents, and mass-tort litigation. He recently left Weaver Tidmore to start a solo practice.

Balzli completed his degree in 2011 at Jones School of Law in Montgomery and promptly joined one of the state's best-known plaintiffs' firms -- Beasley Allen Crow, Methvin Portis and Miles, of Montgomery.  From Balzli's bio at the Weaver Tidmore Web site:

Christopher Joseph Balzli was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a 2003 graduate of Vestavia Hills High School. Chris obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama in 2007, with a major in Political Science and a double minor in Business Management Computer Science. While an undergraduate, Chris was recognized as a Pi Kappa Phi Academic Scholar. Chris went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama in 2011. As a third year law student, Chris obtained a 3L practice card which allowed him to serve as an intern with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. Before finishing school, Chris also received his certification in Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Chris began his legal career at Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis and Miles, P.C. in Montgomery. While at Beasley Allen, Chris worked in the firms Toxic Tort’s section, focusing mainly on the BP Oil Spill litigation. After four years in Montgomery, Chris decided to move back to his hometown of Birmingham and joined Weaver Tidmore LLC in July of 2014. Chris is an accomplished attorney with litigation experience focused on wrongful death, medical negligence, trucking accidents, auto accidents, and mass tort litigation.

Chris obtained his first settlement of over $800,000 in just his second year of practice. Since then, Chris has successfully obtained over $3.2 million in verdicts and settlements for his clients.

According to a published report, Balzli married Stephanie Countiess Emens, of Tuscaloosa, in October 2011. From the article about their wedding:

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Countiss Emens of Tuscaloosa. She is the granddaughter of Col. (Ret.) and Mrs. Louie Franklin of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Mrs. Arthur Greenhill Emens of Tuscaloosa and the late Mr. Arthur Greenhill Emens Jr.

Groom’s parents are Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Joseph Balzli Jr. of Vestavia Hills. He is the grandson of Mr. Clifford Joseph Balzli, Sr. of Point Clear, Mrs. Richard Riess of Birmingham, and the late Mr. and Mrs. James Max Harrison, Sr. of Mobile.

After a trip to Cancun, Mexico, the couple will live in Vestavia Hills.

Stephanie Emens Balzli is an attorney with the Alexander Shunnarah law firm, whose billboards and TV ads are omnipotent throughout central Alabama. From Ms. Balzli's bio at the Shunnarah firm Web site:

Stephanie Balzli is committed to the passionate pursuit of justice on behalf of her clients. Stephanie has significant litigation and trial experience, having obtained multiple six figure verdicts as lead counsel in personal injury cases. She has prevailed against large corporations, insurance companies, and individual defendants at trial. Stephanie’s practice centers around motor vehicle collisions, premises liability, UM/UIM coverage, catastrophic injury cases and trucking cases. . . .

Stephanie Balzli
(From shunnarah.com)
 In law school, Stephanie competed across the country as an advocate on the school’s national trial competition teams. She also served as a senior editor for the law school’s Journal of the Legal Profession and her student comment, “The Methodology and Manipulation of the U.S. News Law School Rankings” was selected for publication by the journal. Stephanie further served the school as a Student Bar Association senator, as a Law School Ambassador, and also as President of the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society.

Stephanie and her husband Chris live in Hoover and are members of Prince of Peace Catholic Church. They enjoy Alabama football, hunting, and summer sunsets over Mobile Bay. They are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl named Mary Lou and a goofy weimaraner named Buck.

We sought comment from Chris Balzli about his activities at Ashley Madison, but he has not responded to our queries.


Previously:

Article with links to 1-20 in Ashley Madison series

(21) Craig Oliver, attorney, Springfield, MO (1/24/17)

(22) Craig Lowell, attorney, Wiggins Childs, Birmingham (1/26/17)

(23) Thomas Mancuso, tax attorney, Montgomery, AL (2/16/17)

(24) Nicholas Arciniegas, attorney, Washington, D.C. (2/21/17)

(25) Griffin McGahey, vice president, High Cotton USA, Birmingham (3/16/17)

(26) Matthew Couch, attorney, Cabaniss Johnson, Birmingham (3/23/17)

(27) Dr. Keron Vickers, chiropractor, Birmingham (4/4/17)

(28) D. Paterson Cope, president, wealth management, Birmingham (4/20/17)

(29) Shawn Baker, developer, Blackwater Resources, Birmingham (4/24/17)

(30) David Deusner, attorney/forensics, Control Risks, Birmingham/Washington, D.C. (4/26/17)

(31) David J. Harrison, attorney, Geneva, AL (6/8/17)

(32) Michael Mullis, managing partner, Kelley and Mullis, Birmingham (4/12/17)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trying to cheat on the missus, when she works at Alexander Shunnarah law firm? That doesn't sound like the brightest idea.

legalschnauzer said...

Memo to @1:34 --

I guess you are going to stomp your feet all day long? What a tantrum! All you've got to do is send the requested ID info and whatever info you claim to have on Mullis, and I would be glad to look it over. Otherwise, you are getting nowhere. You're a baby and a coward, with no credibility.

legalschnauzer said...

Forgot to mention that when I wrote about David Deusner, an AM bot (probably you, 1:34) claimed Deusner had only one visit to AM, or some such. Deusner then contacted me and admitted he was a sex addict and everything in my post was true. Again, I have no reason to believe a word you say.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing Mr. Balzli's hair and his good sense left about the same time.

Anonymous said...

@4:01 --


Good one, hah! I'd say Mr. Balzli's hair and his good sense are gone forever -- never to return.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Schnauzer:

I take it some of the Ashley Madison bots are verklempt over your reporting? You seem to have that effect on them.

legalschnauzer said...

@4:25 --

Yes, verklempt is a good word for it. They are children trying to play in the big-boy leagues, and they aren't up to the task. Pretty amusing to watch them try.

Anonymous said...

Seems to me like the wife is a talented lawyer. Given the experience she has had, and the fact that she is AV-rated despite only having graduated in 2010, she is the real deal. I bet she becomes a legal super-star, maybe even becomes a judge at some point.

She looks like a very nice lady and a fine professional.

legalschnauzer said...

@10:30 --

Thanks for sharing interesting thoughts. Perhaps she deserves better in a husband. For those who don't know, including me, what does AV rated mean?

e.a.f. said...

It almost wants to make you want to hire a private detective before seriously dating someone. It is doubtful the behaviour was new. those Alabama lawyers certainly seem to be missing "good judgement".

The wives of these men might want to exercise some good judgement and dump their husbands. If they connected with anyone who knows what they brought home with them, such as the gifts which keep on giving.

legalschnauzer said...

Memo to @8:24 --


"Yet when someone presents you with information that is perhaps mitigating, you will not allow it to be posted."

Who is this "someone" who has presented me with mitigating information? I'm not familiar with anyone -- an actual person, with a name and an identity -- who has done any such thing. I've not seen a shred of "mitigating information." You are a ghost with an agenda, and I'm not interested in "verifying" anything from someone who won't disclose who he is.

Hope you have good conversations with these gentlemen. I'm sure they will be delighted to hear from someone connected to the company that failed to protect their information. Please do stay in touch. It's a hoot to see what you are going to come up with next. For example, you say I might be hearing from "you" again. Heck, I haven't heard from "you" the first time because I don't know who "you" is. Hah!

BTW, if your panties are in a wad now, they really will be bunched over the next few weeks. Good luck in your crusade.

Anonymous said...

AV rating is a peer-review done through the Martindale legal directory. Martindale surveys other lawyers, and judges, to see how well the lawyer is regarded in terms of competence, experience, etc. Based on the result of the survey, a lawyer can be rated CV, BV, or AV. AV is the highest rating, generally intended for people with enough experience and competence to be said to be leaders in the legal community.

There is a little bit of gaming the system, as lawyers can get their friends to give good ratings. And, to be rated, you generally need to request it from Martindale. Still, the Martindale rating has some value - you can't really get AV unless you are very good. Stephanie got to AV very quickly, meaning she has very likely impressed opposing lawyers and judges through her performance in her cases.

legalschnauzer said...

@11:45 --

Interesting information. Thanks for sharing.