R. Bruce Barze, Jr. is a partner in the Birmingham office of Balch & Bingham LLP, where he practices in the Business Litigation, Environmental Litigation, and Casualty Litigation practice groups.  He represents policyholders and insurance carriers in coverage analysis and litigation involving commercial liability, automobile, D&O, product liability and environmental areas.  Bruce also represents companies in a wide variety of commercial disputes, as well as litigation involving environmental claims, toxic torts, and product liability.  He served as national counsel for a pharmaceutical company in the recent phen-fen litigation, and he represents several well-known companies throughout the Southeast in product liability and commercial litigation.  Bruce earned his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Alabama School of Law, where he was a Dean M. Leigh Harrison Scholar, a Hugo L. Black Scholar, a member of Order of the Coif and a member of the Alabama Law Review.  He served as President of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA) for 2007-08 and has served on the ADLA Board of Directors since 1999.  Bruce is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, has served on the Character and Fitness Committee of the Alabama State Bar since 1998, and is an active member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) and the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC).  He is a past chair of the Environmental, Energy and Maritime Law Committee of the IADC and currently serves as Chair of the IADC's Technology Committee.