Joe A. King, Jr.

For King, practicing law in Huntsville is an ideal life. He was born and raised here, and the only time he left his hometown were the seven years he spent at the University of Alabama, where he got a B.S. degree in biology in 1997 and his J.D. three years later. King received a full academic scholarship to attend law school.

He was elected and served as secretary of the Madison County Bar Association from 2007-2008. King’s commitment to his community has continued to this day. He is on the board of the Huntsville Child Care Center, which provides child care for low income families. He is also on the board of trustees at Trinity Methodist Church.

He enjoys spending time with his two young daughters and is an avid fan of the University of Alabama football team.

‘I’m going to tell you the truth.’

King believes that ideal lawyer-client relationships are those that are built upon honesty.

“I always tell my clients, ‘I am always going to tell you the truth,’” he says. “’You may not always like what I tell you, but I am going to shoot straight with you.’” King believes it is important that the client knows not just the good facts regarding their case, but also the bad facts.

It’s an approach to the practice of law that has proven to be successful, as King’s track record shows in winning cases and achieving significant settlements for clients. He has had numerous verdicts and settlements. In 2011, he resolved one of the largest wrongful death cases in Alabama. He has also been appointed class counsel in multiple class actions and resolved numerous mass tort cases

Over the years, Joe King noticed an increasing number of his clients were being injured in distracted driving accidents. King says “distracted drivers endanger not only themselves, but the people around them,” so he started looking for ways to try to educate the community about the dangers of driving distracted.

“Through public awareness campaigns, and in large part due to the efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), attitudes about drunk driving changed; that is where we are at with texting and driving now. In 2016, the average person won’t drink and drive—they won’t even get in a car with someone who is drinking and driving—but the average person will text and drive or ride with someone who is texting and driving.”

Mr. King is passionate about helping his local community and wants to help prevent distracted driving accidents. In 2015, King helped launch the Morris, King & Hodge Driver Safety Scholarship which encourages young minds to think practically about how they can help others stop distracted driving. Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., also sponsors free distracted driving courses each summer and in 2016, Mr. King was featured in a Distracted Driving Special which aired on WHNT.

When asked about his firm’s efforts to educate the community on distracted driving, King said, “Every day the attorneys at Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., help people who have been injured by distracted drivers. Distracted driving is personal to us because we’ve seen the real life consequences.”