J. Burruss Riis

Biographical Information

Buzzy Riis serves as the Managing Lawyer for the Mobile office of the firm. He is a lifetime resident of Mobile, Alabama, graduating from Washington & Lee University, B.A., cum laude, 1982, and receiving his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 1985. He has been with the firm since 1991, and is a member of the Litigation Section of the law firm actively involved in the following Practice Groups: Personal Injury & Insurance; Construction; Employment and Labor, Worker’s Compensation, and Cybersecurity.

Buzzy practices in the field of general civil litigation with a concentration in personal injury, trucking defense and construction defense litigation. Buzzy has tried more than 50 jury trials. He also has more than 37 years experience in OSHA disputes on behalf of contractors, healthcare providers, shipyards, stevedores and manufacturing facilities in contesting citations from the Occupational Safety & Health Commission. Buzzy has tried cases both before juries and judges in Mobile County, Baldwin County, Montgomery County, Choctaw County, Escambia County and Conecuh County, Alabama. He has also tried cases in the federal courts for the Southern District of Alabama and has argued appeals before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Buzzy has been active in the pro bono lawyer program in the City of Mobile throughout his practice. He was recognized as the 2003 recipient of the Ben Kilborn Volunteer Lawyer of the Year.

While in law school, Buzzy served on the Editorial Board of the Alabama Law Review. He is currently a member of the Mobile Bar Association, the Alabama Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (Executive Council), and TIDA. He was inducted into the Paul Brock Inn of Court in 1999. He serves on the Associate Board of Directors of the Mobile AGC (Associated General Contractors) and he is a Past-President of the Associate Board of the Mobile and state AGC.

Buzzy and his wife, Nicole, are members of Government Street Presbyterian Church. He has two children: a son, Burruss, and a daughter, Mickey. His son, Burruss, graduated from the University of Southern Miss and law school at the University of Alabama School of Law. Mickey attended Auburn University and now works in Greenville, North Carolina. Buzzy also has two stepdaughters, Mollie and Callie. Mollie is a graduate of the University of Alabama and Callie graduated from Mississippi State and the University of Alabama School of Law.