Wesley L. Laird, Abbreviated Biography
Wesley L. Laird pulled weeds on his dad’s farm near Lockhart, Alabama when he was young, and later drove a tractor for his father before graduating from Florala High School in Florala, Alabama. The son of Nolan and Anelia Laird, lifelong farmers, Wes says he “learned the value of hard work, doing things right the first time, and earning an honest living for an honest day’s work.”
Wes Laird attended LBW Community College in Andalusia before graduating from the University of Alabama in 1983 in Business and Commerce. He then obtained his Juris Doctorate at the University of Alabama School of Law with the Class of 1986.
Laird has practiced law in Covington County since 1987, when he opened his own law firm in Opp, Alabama. He was later joined by David Baker and Andy Blackstock and the firm became known as Laird, Baker & Blackstock, Attorneys at Law in 2000. He is married to the former Deidra Rice of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They have two adult children, Laken and Leah Laird.
Laird founded the Lower Alabama Walk for Alzheimer’s in 2012 with the help of family and friends, and his staff at Laird, Baker & Blackstock in honor of his mother and grandmother, who both suffer from the disease.
During Wes Laird’s career, he has gotten favorable jury verdicts in murder and arson cases. His major civil cases include the following:
- Lead class counsel for Alabama city school systems leading to a $41 million class action settlement in Covington County, Alabama
- Successful product liability cases against General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford in Bullock County and Conecuh County, Alabama
- Over $16 million collected in trucking cases in past five years in Georgia, Conecuh County, Alabama, Coffee County, Alabama and Covington County, Alabama with cases litigated in Elba, Andalusia, Birmingham and Evergreen, Alabama and in Lawrenceville and Savannah, Georgia
- Successful road construction defect cases for paraplegics in Bullock County, Alabama Covington County, Alabama and Coffee County, Alabama involving major Alabama DOT projects
- Plaintiff verdicts in offshore injury cases in Federal and State Courts in Louisiana and in Beaumont, Texas
Wesley L. Laird has served as Chairman of Ducks Unlimited, the South Alabama Regional Airport Board, and Covenant Community Church in Elba, Alabama; and Board Member of Alabama Association for Justice, formerly Alabama Trial Lawyers Association. As a trial lawyer, he has been recognized as a Champion for Justice and is a recipient of AAJ’s Leadership Award. Laird also is a member of the American Association for Justice.
