Courtesy of Ben Burford.
Judge Pat Thetford announced his candidacy earlier in January for Place 1 on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, a seat that is currently held by Judge Craig Pittman. Pittman announced that he is not seeking re-election.
"I believe that my background of having over 27 years of experience as a civil lawyer and Civil Circuit Judge makes me uniquely qualified to serve as an Appellate Judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals," said Thetford, about his candidacy. "If elected, I will bring vast experience and conservative values to the court. I will work hard to administer justice fairly and equitably, but always grounded in the rule of law.”
Thetford is a native of Montgomery and is a Mountain Brook resident, living in the Birmingahm area for 27 years. He has graduated from both the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in commerce and business administration and a master's degree in business administration, respectively. He later earned his law degree from Samford University in 1988 and went on to practice civil litigation in Mobile.
Currently, Thetford is with Wade S. Anderson and Associates in Birmingham. According to a press release, Thetford has "tried and won more jury trials for this firm than any other lawyer in its history, having handled over a thousand cases and having tried over 80 civil jury trials."
The Jefferson County Judicial Commission also named him a top-three candidate for the Jefferson County Circuit Judge of the Civil Division, and the following year, in 2016, the Birmingham Bar Association named Thetford the "most highly qualified judicial candidate out of 14 Jefferson County judicial races in the Judicial Qualifications poll."
Thetford and his family, including wife Mary Frances Thetford and their two sons, are members of Canterbury United Methodist Church. His father, the William Thetford, served as a Circuit Court judge for Montgomery County for 17 years.
