Richard S. Jaffe

Richard S. Jaffe is the founding partner of the Birmingham, Alabama law firm of Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant &Knight P.C. The firm concentrates in the areas of criminal defense and White-Collar criminal law.
Mr. Jaffe began his career as a prosecutor, first as an Assistant Attorney General, and then a Deputy District Attorney for Tuscaloosa County. He entered the private practice of law in Birmingham in 1978 and is the founding partner of Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant and Knight. Mr. Jaffe concentrates in the area of white-collar criminal defense and high stakes federal and state criminal cases.
During his career, Mr. Jaffe represented over seventy people accused of death penalty offenses, including the Olympic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, and four other federal capital defendants. In Alabama six innocent people have been exonerated from death row. Mr. Jaffe represented four of them. In 2013 Mr. Jaffe, along with others, persuaded the Alabama legislature, the Governor, and the Parole Board to grant a posthumous full pardon for the historical Scottsboro Boys.
The National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) board certified Mr. Jaffe in criminal defense in 1983. He is a member of the Al, Ga. NY and DC Bar associations. He is the past president of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (ACDLA) and the founder and twice president of the Greater Birmingham Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (GBCDLA). In 1996 the Alabama Bar Association awarded him the Clarence Darrow Award for contributions to indigent defense. Both ACDLA and GBCDLA each awarded him lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to criminal defense. In 2012 super lawyers listed Mr. Jaffe as one of the top ten lawyers in Alabama. In 2013 Best Lawyers of America named him Lawyer of the Year in white-collar litigation.
Mr. Jaffe is a sought-after speaker and trainer for legal associations throughout the US. He has published many articles on trial practice and criminal law. He is a Fellow of the Alabama College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) and the author of Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned.