Graham Talley

Practice Areas

Graham Talley litigates and tries complex, multi-party and class action disputes for clients in the healthcare, insurance, retail and banking industries. In recent years, Graham has served as trial counsel more than a half dozen times, all in cases with millions of dollars at stake. His focus on trials often involves the preparation and cross-examination of scientific witnesses, the presentation of complex argument on legal issues during trial and the preservation of error.

Experience

-Served as lead appellate counsel for a state constitutional officer before the Arkansas Supreme Court in a lawsuit alleging violations of the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act, obtaining a complete victory on appeal in a landmark decision interpreting Arkansas’s sovereign-immunity doctrine.

-Represented Arkansas’s largest healthcare system as lead counsel in a lawsuit involving an allegedly contaminated medical device, leading to the voluntary dismissal of the client immediately prior to decision on a pending motion for summary judgment.

-Led the expert workup of an eight-figure contract dispute for a multinational wholesale retailer, resulting in the dismissal of more than 95% of the plaintiff’s claimed damages.

-Served as trial counsel in a complex, multi-party professional liability action, obtaining the dismissal with prejudice of the client on a dispositive motion on the first day of a two-week trial.

-Represented a national automobile insurer in a class action involving the adjustment of personal injury protection, or “no-fault” insurance claims, defeating the certification of a proposed class comprised of more than 1500 members.

-Defended a publicly traded pharmaceutical company in state-court proceedings arising from the use of an injectable contraceptive, resulting in a dismissal with prejudice following the entry of summary judgment in favor of the client on preemption grounds.

-Represented multiple national insurance carriers in class actions involving the adjustment of first-party, total-loss automobile claims, obtaining complete dismissal in favor of the clients on Rule 12(b)(6) motions.

-Served as trial counsel in a professional liability case involving allegations of permanent paraplegia, obtaining a unanimous defense verdict after the plaintiff requested $10 million in damages from the jury.

-Defended national health services company in litigation involving alleged violations of state “any-willing-provider” laws, obtaining the dismissal of the client on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion.

Professional Memberships

-Arkansas Bar Association

-Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel

-Chairman, Board of Directors, Create Little Rock (2020)

-Ex-Officio Member, Board of Directors, Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce (2020)

-Planning Committee, Heifer International Urban Farm Fest (2018-2020)

-Editor-in-Chief, Arkansas Law Review (2014-2015)

Publications

Book Chapters

Lyn P. Pruitt & Graham C. Talley, Chapter 38, Arkansas, A Practitioner’s Guide to Class Actions (ABA Publications 3d ed. forthcoming 2021) (Marcy Hogan Greer ed.).

Education