Hill Hill Carter Franco Cole & Black - Attorneys at Law, Montgomery, AL

Although the size of the firm and the complexity of its practice have increased over the years, the firm’s dedication to legal excellence, integrity, and the welfare of its clients remains unchanged.

This is the driving force behind everything we do.

Hill Hill Carter is a full-service firm capable of serving any legal need one may encounter. In fact, most clients who come to the firm with a specific legal need end up as lifelong clients, utilizing the full range of services, from estate and tax planning to real estate and litigation. Our long history and considerable experience make Hill Hill Carter an indispensable resource for navigating legal pitfalls and obstacles in the path to your success.

Practice Areas

Appellate Practice: Hill Hill Carter has successfully represented clients in appeals before all Alabama appellate courts, the United States Courts of Appeal, the United States Tax Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Aviation: With more than 40 years of experience in aircraft litigation, we have represented manufacturers, service providers, pilots, and parts suppliers for both rotary-winged and fixed-winged aircraft.
Commercial & Business Litigation: Hill Hill Carter offers clients the litigation expertise and experience necessary to prosecute or defend all types of commercial and business disputes.
Commercial & Corporate Planning: The firm’s Commercial and Corporate Planning group advises and counsels clients with respect to a wide array of commercial and business transactions, including choice of entity; mergers and acquisitions; business formations and dissolution; buy-sell arrangements; equity holder agreements; debt transactions; redemptions and liquidations; non-profit organizations; tax free exchanges and reorganizations; and business succession and exit strategy planning. In addition, the group represents lenders and borrowers in traditional financial transactions as well as in transactions requiring innovative financing alternatives.
Construction: Whether we are dealing with residential or commercial construction, or representing lenders, owners, general contractors, subcontractors or suppliers, our firm has extensive experience and success in handling construction law and litigation matters.
Education: The firm is general counsel for several boards of education and also represents many other boards in education-related litigation throughout the state. Our attorneys advise and represent our clients in cases involving various student and employee issues, such as the Section 504 Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Fair Dismissal, Teacher Tenure and Teacher Accountability acts.
Estate Planning & Probate: Our attorneys counsel clients and implement strategies to minimize federal estate and gift taxes while meeting the clients’ specific desires. We perform sophisticated estate planning on state, federal, and international levels, and also handle the daily administration of complex estates and trusts. Our firm is also an experienced advocate in the legislative process and in proceedings involving the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. We have substantial experience in representing clients in a wide range of contested will, accounting, litigation, and tax proceedings.
Gaming & Amusement: Over the years, our attorneys have been pleased to represent numerous gaming facilities, racetracks, bingo establishments, and gaming and amusement machine vendors, distributors, and operators. We routinely represent clients in regulatory, contract, financing, and other general matters, including the defense of amusement games and electronic bingo machines in litigation.
General Litigation: We have represented individuals and businesses successfully in thousands of cases involving business and commercial disputes, personal injury and wrongful death claims, civil rights, taxation, constitutional issues, aviation, insurance litigation, product liability, premises liability, construction law, real estate, will contests, and employment law matters.
Governmental Entities: The firm serves state agencies, city and county governments, law enforcement agencies and officers, housing authorities, and public utility management companies. Services include advising and negotiating regulatory, administrative, procedural, and legal issues with governmental agencies, as well as drafting of contracts, leases, and licenses for government facilities. Our members regularly attend council meetings, board meetings, or other administrative hearings to assist in the decision-making process and help resolve existing disputes, as well as proactively prevent litigation. Our lawyers also keep abreast of the ever-changing law regarding governmental and pseudo-governmental entities, including unique issues involving employment liability and civil rights laws, to keep our clients informed of frequently changing legal standards and responsibilities applicable to public and related entities.
Insurance: The firm represents a myriad of insurers in litigation ranging from constitutional and regulatory issues to extra-contractual litigation, bad faith, fraud, and claims defense. We also provide coverage opinions regarding coverage issues and file or defend declaratory judgment actions if needed.
Labor & Employment: Employment law covers a complex network of laws that controls how employers must treat employees, former employees, and applicants for employment. We represent private and public sector employers in all aspects of the employer/employee relationship, from pre-hire to post-termination.
Product Liability: We have represented both foreign and domestic clients in product liability defense and litigation supervision. Our firm has been successfully involved in numerous product liability suits across the country involving a wide variety of industrial, commercial. and consumer products.
Professional Liability: Our lawyers are experienced in professional malpractice law and can help clients determine whether malpractice has occurred due to injuries as a result of the negligence or misconduct of individuals across numerous fields of profession.
Real Estate: We have expertise in all aspects of real estate law, with a concentration in commercial real estate. The firm represents developers who are active both in the state of Alabama and throughout the Southeast, and has extensive experience in developing, owning, managing, purchasing, selling, leasing, and financing commercial properties. Our experience includes representation of both buyers and sellers of commercial real estate, including shopping centers, malls, office buildings, apartment buildings, hotels and motels, warehouses, mobile home parks, other commercial properties, and undeveloped land; representation of both landlords and tenants under commercial leases; and representation of both borrowers and lenders in connection with real estate laws and secured transactions.
Tax Planning & Litigation: Tax services provided include the representation of individuals and all types of business entities. The firm engages in tax-planning services, including estate planning, acquisition and disposition strategies, business planning, and business succession planning. The firm has extensive experience representing clients in tax controversies with federal, state, and local taxing authorities. Additionally, several members of the tax practice unit participate in drafting tax legislation. Our services include proficient tax advice and planning that coincide with our clients’ business plans and fiscal goals. We structure business transactions with careful, creative attention to the resulting tax consequences. Our knowledge and creativity have saved our clients substantial dollars that would otherwise have been paid to the IRS or other governmental bodies.
Transportation: The firm represents over-the-road carriers, trucking companies, general transportation companies, manufacturers, and drivers in all types of litigation. The geographic scope of this work extends throughout the Southeast. Firm members participate in the Transportation Section of the Defense Research Institute, Transportation Lawyers Association, and Trucking Industry Defense Association.
Workers’ Compensation: The firm defends litigated cases and unlitigated claims in which employees are seeking workers’ compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and medical benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act of Alabama. Our attorneys are retained by employers, self-insured funds, third party administrators, and insurance companies to defend employers in claims for lost wages, medical treatment, and other such benefits under the workers’ compensation system. We also handle subrogation claims, workers’ compensation fraud claims, and appeals. Our goal is to expeditiously resolve invalid claims and protect corporate resources.