#2.4: David Selby & Todd Mathews in the Heart of Law

EPISODE #2.4:  The Heart of Law with David Selby & Todd Mathews

Two courtroom heroes in the mass tort world, David Selby and Todd Mathews share the mic with Mirena Umizaj in this season's fourth episode. The show starts in full swing as the partners at Bailey Glasser LLP share their stories and humble origins ... Todd recounts the impact of a kind family and the local church during his early teen years. Despite his plans to become a Southern Baptist preacher, he found his true calling in the courtroom. Through the justice system's pulpit, Todd has aimed to make a difference in people's lives. Specializing in injury claims for almost 20 years, his reputation as "a master-of-all-trades" (as Mirena puts it) made him adept at handling almost any case under the sun—all in the name of serving others. Now distinctly aware of his morality, Todd describes how his worldview shifted. We hear how the murder of his dear friend and colleague, Randy Gori, shook him to his very core. 

Meanwhile, David unpacks how his career began at the district attorney's office, immediately entrenched in jury trials. Eventually becoming Division Chief of Alabama’s Violent Crimes Division allowed him to have a "unique perspective to the whole jury system." After subsequently gravitating toward defense and plaintiff work, he and his friend opened a firm in 1999. Soon their practice, Kee & Selby LLP, grew to have about 12 partners in a few years. As David's fame grew in the legal industry, like-mined colleagues asked him to come aboard Bailey Glasser. And the rest is history.

We learn how Todd and David's paths crossed as they began serving on the Executive Committee of the Atrium Hernia Mesh Multidistrict Litigation. Both share a common philosophy and pursuit: they look after the underdog. We hear their compassioned plight for their clients—victims who struggle to survive who are just "living out their unfortunate story." Shifting gears, when asked by Mirena to reflect on the evolution of the legal industry in the last decade, without hesitation, Todd says: "One of the best things that [has] happen[ed] in the last ten years is the focus that has been put on female attorneys … minority attorneys getting opportunities to lead MDLs to have a significant impact." Dovetailing the insight, David remarks on the increasing resources clients and firms now enjoy.

During the deep dive, David and Todd center on the breaking news about the horrendous Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) bankruptcy ruling. At the case's front and center, they dissect the intricacies of how the corporation side-stepped any settlement claims. They expound on how JNJ.N received the protection of U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael Kaplan, bringing about the titanic loss of plaintiffs all over America. As David perplexingly puts it, the "stroke of a pen … eviscerated everybody's right to a jury trial."  While the tireless pursuit