Lightfoot Partner Ashby Pate Re-Elected Chair of Birmingham Airport Authority Board

October 15, 2025

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC partner R. Ashby Pate has been re-elected as chair of the Birmingham Airport Authority (BAA) board of directors for the 2025-26 term. Pate was first appointed to the board in 2020, served as secretary for two years and was elected chair in 2024.

In his role, Pate has helped guide major initiatives at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, including the board’s Parking Modernization Plan to increase capacity and improve the customer experience. The board is also focused on pursuing infrastructure projects, maximizing federal funding and fostering a strong business climate for airlines and future partners.

“This is an exciting time for the airport,” said Pate. “Passenger traffic continues to grow, and we are making sure the community has a first-class airport well into the future.”

Pate focuses his legal practice on complex government investigations, class actions, international disputes, appellate work and corporate plaintiffs’ litigation. His unique background includes serving as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of Palau, where he helped design the island nation’s first-ever jury trial system, and clerking for U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, one of Alabama’s civil rights pioneers. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation in 2020 and is a member of the American Law Institute.