Dan Sparks is head of Christian & Small’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group. He focuses his practice in the areas of bankruptcy and business litigation involving creditors’ rights, consumer finance, lender liability, commercial contracts, and injunctive relief. Dan represents commercial lenders, debt buyers, corporations, Trustees, individuals and other secured and unsecured creditors in all aspects of commercial litigation, loan workouts, restructurings and closings, asset recovery, foreclosure, and adversary proceedings in bankruptcy. He spends a significant amount of his time representing creditors in all bankruptcy courts in Alabama and the Southeast.

Professional and Community Involvement

  • Alabama State Bar
  • Birmingham Bar Association
  • State Bar of Georgia
  • Turnaround Management Association: Member
  • Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute: Director
  • American Bankruptcy Institute: Asset Sales Committee
  • American Bar Foundation: Fellow
  • American Bar Association
  • St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

Awards and Recognition

  • AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
  • Recognized in Chambers USA for Bankruptcy/Restructuring: Alabama
  • Selected by The Best Lawyers in America® as 2025 as “Lawyer of the Year” for Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law, for 2024 as “Lawyer of the Year” for Bet-the-Company Litigation, and in 2018 as “Lawyer of the Year” for Bankruptcy & Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency & Reorganization Law
  • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Banking and Finance Law, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Banking and Finance, Litigation – Bankruptcy, Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law, Securitization and Structured Finance Law
  • Recognized as a 2025 Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation
  • Selected for inclusion in Alabama Super Lawyers® Top 50 Attorneys in Alabama and Top 50 Attorneys in Birmingham
  • Selected for inclusion in Alabama Super Lawyers® in the field of Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights; in Mid-South Region Super Lawyers in 2016-2019 in the field of Bankruptcy, Business
  • Listed as one of the Birmingham Business Journal’s “Best of the Birmingham Bar”
  • Listed as “Top Attorney” in fields of banking and bankruptcy for Birmingham Magazine

Publications and Presentations

  • Presenter, Issues Surrounding Assumption and Rejection of Leases in Bankruptcy, Birmingham Bar Association CLE (August 2017)
  • Presenter, Discharge of Environmental Claims in Bankruptcy, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (October 2016)
  • Presenter, Pre-Bankruptcy Strategies for Landlords of Commercial Tenants, Association of Corporate Counsel (April 2016)
  • Author, Birmingham Bankruptcy Trends, Christian & Small Nonstop Insights Blog (March 2014)

Education:

  • University of Georgia, 1981, B.A. (Order of Omega; Gridiron Secret Society; Dean’s List)
  • Samford University Cumberland School of Law, 1985, J.D. (National Mock Trial Team; National Mock Trial Competition, Finalist; Dean’s List)

Admissions:

  • Georgia, 1985
  • Alabama, 1986
  • United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
  • United States District Court, Middles District of Alabama
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama
  • Georgia State Supreme Court,
  • Georgia Court of Civil Appeals