Mason has a long, distinguished career representing clients in business, antitrust, securities, and product liability litigation, as well as life, health, and surety company defense. He also has extensive experience before insurance regulatory departments and commissions and has participated in numerous trials in both state and federal courts. His appellate practice includes matters before the Supreme Court of Alabama and the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals.
Why did you become an attorney?
I became a lawyer, first, because that is what my parents wanted. Next, because I had a flair for history, truth, government, and business and pursuing those areas, particularly business. I thought that the law was vital to be successful in business. and my family had been in business since 1899.
Who has inspired you in your career?
My Uncle, Walter Wellington Harris, was a lawyer practicing in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was my idol. Also, Peter A. Hall who was a super researcher of the law and fearless in the Courtroom. General Edward M. Friend, Jr., one of the founders of Sirote & Permutt. They were all people who stood out as lawyers.
What are you most proud of in your practice?
My prize accomplishments have been, being elected president of the Birmingham Bar Association, bar commissioner of the Alabama State Bar, elected chairman of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, elected as chairman of United Way of Central Alabama. Also, I was elected as a member of three boards of directors of corporations whose stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As a lawyer you must present yourself in a way your client is proud to have retained you to represent them. You must always exemplify high character and trustworthiness. You must always represent the law and yourself.
Awards and Accreditations
•The Best Lawyers in America
•AV-Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating
•Mid-South Super Lawyers
Outside the Office
•Alabama Archives and History Foundation
•Board of Directors
•Alabama Citizens' Constitution Commission
•Selected by Governor Bob Riley (2003)
•Alabama Democratic Party
•Secretary, Board of Directors (1978-1997)
•State Democratic Executive Committee
•Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
•Chairman
•Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce
•Chairman (2001-2002)
•Bruno's
•Former Member, Board of Directors
•Energen Corporation
•Former Member, Board of Directors
•Enstar Group Limited
•Former Member, Board of Directors
•State University of New York at Buffalo Law School
•Honorary Doctorate Degree (2009)
•Success by Six
•Blue Ribbon Committee
•Talladega College
•Chairman, Board of Trustees (1981-1988)
•United Way of Central Alabama
•Chairman (2002-2003)
•University of Alabama School of Law
•Adjunct Professor (1972-1997)
Recognition
•The Best Lawyers in America
•Commercial Litigation (2006-2020)
•Corporate Law (2006-2020)
•AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating
•Mid-South Super Lawyers
•Business Litigation (2015-2019)
•Alabama Poverty Project, Honoree (2013)
•Best of US Inc., Commercial Litigation
•Birmingham Bar Foundation, Journey for Justice Honoree (2013)
•Birmingham Business Journal, Best of the Bar
(2006)
•NAACP, Lifetime Achievement in Human and Civil Rights (2013)
News
•Six Sirote Shareholders Named to Birmingham Magazine’s 2020 Top Attorneys
•Sirote Attorneys Named 2019 Mid-South Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
•Sirote & Permutt Announces 47 Attorneys Selected as The Best Lawyers in America for 2016
•Sirote’s J. Mason Davis, Jr. Recognized in Positive Maturity’s “Top 50 Over 50”
•Sirote & Permutt Announces 28 Attorneys Selected As Alabama Super Lawyers 2015
•Sirote's Davis, Friedman, Ragsdale and Williams Named Among B-Metro's 2015 Top Flight Lawyers
•Sirote & Permutt Attorneys Included in The Best Lawyers in America for 2015
•Sirote & Permutt's J. Mason Davis, Jr. Inducted into Alabama Lawyers Association Hall of Fame
•Sirote's J. Mason Davis, Jr. to Appear on PBS Documentary Stand! Untold Stories from the Civil Rights Movement
•Sirote & Permutt Attorney J. Mason Davis Honored by the Alabama Poverty Project
•Best Lawyers Recognizes 46 Sirote Attorneys as the Best Lawyers in America for 2014
•Revered Sirote Attorneys Honored for Contributions to Civil Rights Movement at Journey for Justice Gala
•Celebrating 50 Years Forward
•Best Lawyers Recognizes 43 Attorneys from Sirote & Permutt as the Best Lawyers in America for 2013
•Mason Davis Featured in the Birmingham News
•Jack Neal & Mason Davis Inducted as Birmingham Bar Foundation Fellows
•Mason Davis Reads for Governor Bentley's Induction into Academy of Honor
•Maury Shevin and Mason Davis Participate in Radio Fundraiser -- 90.3 FM WBHM
•Best Lawyers has selected 32 attorneys from Sirote & Permutt for recognition in The Best Lawyers in America for 2011
•31 Sirote Attorneys Listed In Best Lawyers
•Sirote Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers 2009
Speeches and Publications
•Author, Civil Rights Empowerment Week Highlights a Better Birmingham, Sirote Supports, September 2013
•Author, 1963 to 2013: Telling the Story, Sirote Supports, January 2013
•Panelist (with Judge U.W. Clemon), Life as a Black Lawyer in Birmingham in the 1960s, 2013
•Speaker, Life as a Lawyer in the 1960s, Ukraine Business Professionals, 2013
