Lana A. Olson, Partner
Birmingham
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205-581-1514 phone
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205-581-0799 fax
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lolson@lightfootlaw.com
Biography
Lana Olson is a tough trial lawyer who understands the pressures faced by in-house counsel.
Don’t let the red hair fool you.
When it comes to defending her clients, this redhead has never been afraid of a challenge. Whether she is trying a complex, high-stakes case, providing day-to-day risk management advice or leading an internal investigation, Lana has the experience and judgment needed to guide clients through even the most daunting situations. Maintaining a varied litigation practice, she handles matters involving environmental, toxic tort, product liability, catastrophic injury and employment claims.
Lana also understands the complicated realities facing today’s in-house lawyers, because she has been in their shoes. She served for seven years as the assistant general counsel for a leading heavy truck component distributor. In this role she managed all facets of the company’s legal and compliance matters, from day-to-day consultation to the most complex and significant pieces of litigation. Lana was also responsible for hiring and managing a team of outside counsel and gained invaluable experience that she draws on daily to deliver the best possible service to her clients.
Lana has served as lead counsel in a variety of roles, including first-chair at trial and for complex arbitrations. She has taken hundreds of depositions over the course of her career and has handled class certification hearings, Frye/Daubert hearings and bench trials. Her clients are located all over the country and range from Fortune 100 multinational companies to small family businesses. Lana has spent a significant portion of her career handling cases for clients in Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas. She is also a member of the firm's Marketing & Business Development Committee.
When she isn’t wearing her redheaded litigator hat, Lana enjoys being a mother to her vivacious daughter, Maggie (who is a blonde), her Shih-Tzu (George Bailey) and her Maltese (Hoover).
Representative Matters
- Serving as first-chair in a million dollar product liability claim involving an 18-wheeler rear-end incident resulting in debilitating back injuries. Successfully defended the moving equipment rental company from plaintiff’s claims of defective lights and inadequate warnings. The jury returned a defense verdict after less than thirty minutes of deliberations.
- Serving as assistant general counsel for a leading truck component supplier (2010-17).
- Serving as lead defense counsel in the arbitration of a multimillion-dollar personal injury case. The arbitrator found in favor of the defense on the issue of comparative fault, resulting in a 90 percent reduction of the award.
- Assisting and advising a natural gas company in a two-year NTSB investigation.
- Representing a Fortune 100 company in class actions and individual lawsuits resulting from a train derailment, as well as assisting in the related NTSB investigation.
- Defending environmental contamination lawsuits against a manufacturing facility involving hundreds of plaintiffs suing for environmental contamination (air, soil, vapor and groundwater) from the chemical TCE.
- Resolving numerous class action, mass joinder and multiplaintiff lawsuits in which the plaintiffs claimed personal injuries and property damage as the result of alleged exposure to various wood-treating chemicals, including creosote, pentachlorophenol and arsenic.
- Defending a natural gas marketing company to verdict at trial in a fraud, breach of contract and RICO case where the alleged damages topped $100 million.
- Defending a food manufacturing company in state and federal lawsuits in which the plaintiffs alleged that odor nuisances affected their property values.
- Obtaining the dismissal of a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action claim following a week-long bench trial on behalf of a large, national luxury goods retailer.
- Obtaining summary judgment for a manufacturing client in an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim.
- Obtaining early dismissal in a race discrimination, hostile work environment, constructive discharge and retaliation case on behalf of a chemical company.
- Defending a uniform supply company in a nationwide class action lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract.
- Obtaining a defense verdict for a Fortune 100 technology company in a trial in Mississippi state court. Plaintiff alleged product liability, warranty and breach of contract claims.
Articles
Events
News
Presentations and Publications
Presenter, "Business Development Tips for Lawyers" N.D. Defense Lawyers Association Annual Membership Meeting and Fall Seminar, (2019)
Presenter, “The Art of Marketing,” FDCC, (2017)
Presenter, “Why Gender Equality is Good for Everyone, Including Men,” Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (DCTI ) Annual Meeting, (2016)
Presenter, “Work/Life Balance for Women Lawyers,” Louisiana Defense Counsel Meeting, (2016)
Presenter, “Business Development for The Employment Lawyer,” DRI Employment Law Seminar, (2015)
Author, “Don’t Be a Scarlett O’Hara: Start Thinking About Business Development Now,” The Guide — A Young Lawyer’s Guide to Defense Practice, (2015)
Presenter, “What You Need to Know About the Plaintiffs’ Attorney Information Exchange Group (AIEG),” DRI Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, (2015)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known About Business Development,” DRI For the Defense, (July 2013)
Presenter, “The Best in Trial and Courtroom Techniques in Trucking Litigation,” Transportation Megaconference XI, (2013)
Presenter, “Reinvent the Way You Practice Law: Six Experts in 90 Minutes,” DRI Annual Meeting, (2013)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Expert Deposition,” DRI For the Defense, (November 2011)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Deposition,” DRI For the Defense, (April 2008)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Trial,” DRI For the Defense, (September 2007)
Recurring speaker at the Alabama Defense Lawyer’s Association’s Annual Deposition Boot Camp
Presenter (with CNN senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin), “Inside the Supreme World of the Supreme Court,” DRI Annual Meeting
Presenter, “Effectively Leveraging Affinity Groups,” DuPont Women Lawyers Network Meeting
Presenter, “Collision Mitigation Technology: The Future is Forward-Looking,” American Bar Association, TIPS Fall Leadership Meeting/Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee
Presenter, “Affirmative Recovery Programs: How to Change Your Law Department from a Cost Center to a Profit Center,” DRI’s Corporate Counsel Roundtable
Presenter, “Business Development for Lawyers,” DRI International Seminar
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Legal Assistant
Bio 
Lana Olson is a tough trial lawyer who understands the pressures faced by in-house counsel.
Don’t let the red hair fool you.
When it comes to defending her clients, this redhead has never been afraid of a challenge. Whether she is trying a complex, high-stakes case, providing day-to-day risk management advice or leading an internal investigation, Lana has the experience and judgment needed to guide clients through even the most daunting situations. Maintaining a varied litigation practice, she handles matters involving environmental, toxic tort, product liability, catastrophic injury and employment claims.
Lana also understands the complicated realities facing today’s in-house lawyers, because she has been in their shoes. She served for seven years as the assistant general counsel for a leading heavy truck component distributor. In this role she managed all facets of the company’s legal and compliance matters, from day-to-day consultation to the most complex and significant pieces of litigation. Lana was also responsible for hiring and managing a team of outside counsel and gained invaluable experience that she draws on daily to deliver the best possible service to her clients.
Lana has served as lead counsel in a variety of roles, including first-chair at trial and for complex arbitrations. She has taken hundreds of depositions over the course of her career and has handled class certification hearings, Frye/Daubert hearings and bench trials. Her clients are located all over the country and range from Fortune 100 multinational companies to small family businesses. Lana has spent a significant portion of her career handling cases for clients in Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas. She is also a member of the firm's Marketing & Business Development Committee.
When she isn’t wearing her redheaded litigator hat, Lana enjoys being a mother to her vivacious daughter, Maggie (who is a blonde), her Shih-Tzu (George Bailey) and her Maltese (Hoover).
Experience
Representative Matters
Serving as first-chair in a million dollar product liability claim involving an 18-wheeler rear-end incident resulting in debilitating back injuries. Successfully defended the moving equipment rental company from plaintiff’s claims of defective lights and inadequate warnings. The jury returned a defense verdict after less than thirty minutes of deliberations.
Serving as assistant general counsel for a leading truck component supplier (2010-17).
Serving as lead defense counsel in the arbitration of a multimillion-dollar personal injury case. The arbitrator found in favor of the defense on the issue of comparative fault, resulting in a 90 percent reduction of the award.
Assisting and advising a natural gas company in a two-year NTSB investigation.
Representing a Fortune 100 company in class actions and individual lawsuits resulting from a train derailment, as well as assisting in the related NTSB investigation.
Defending environmental contamination lawsuits against a manufacturing facility involving hundreds of plaintiffs suing for environmental contamination (air, soil, vapor and groundwater) from the chemical TCE.
Resolving numerous class action, mass joinder and multiplaintiff lawsuits in which the plaintiffs claimed personal injuries and property damage as the result of alleged exposure to various wood-treating chemicals, including creosote, pentachlorophenol and arsenic.
Defending a natural gas marketing company to verdict at trial in a fraud, breach of contract and RICO case where the alleged damages topped $100 million.
Defending a food manufacturing company in state and federal lawsuits in which the plaintiffs alleged that odor nuisances affected their property values.
Obtaining the dismissal of a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action claim following a week-long bench trial on behalf of a large, national luxury goods retailer.
Obtaining summary judgment for a manufacturing client in an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim.
Obtaining early dismissal in a race discrimination, hostile work environment, constructive discharge and retaliation case on behalf of a chemical company.
Defending a uniform supply company in a nationwide class action lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract.
Obtaining a defense verdict for a Fortune 100 technology company in a trial in Mississippi state court. Plaintiff alleged product liability, warranty and breach of contract claims.
News & Insights
Articles
Events
News
Presentations and Publications
Presenter, "Business Development Tips for Lawyers" N.D. Defense Lawyers Association Annual Membership Meeting and Fall Seminar, (2019)
Presenter, “The Art of Marketing,” FDCC, (2017)
Presenter, “Why Gender Equality is Good for Everyone, Including Men,” Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (DCTI ) Annual Meeting, (2016)
Presenter, “Work/Life Balance for Women Lawyers,” Louisiana Defense Counsel Meeting, (2016)
Presenter, “Business Development for The Employment Lawyer,” DRI Employment Law Seminar, (2015)
Author, “Don’t Be a Scarlett O’Hara: Start Thinking About Business Development Now,” The Guide — A Young Lawyer’s Guide to Defense Practice, (2015)
Presenter, “What You Need to Know About the Plaintiffs’ Attorney Information Exchange Group (AIEG),” DRI Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, (2015)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known About Business Development,” DRI For the Defense, (July 2013)
Presenter, “The Best in Trial and Courtroom Techniques in Trucking Litigation,” Transportation Megaconference XI, (2013)
Presenter, “Reinvent the Way You Practice Law: Six Experts in 90 Minutes,” DRI Annual Meeting, (2013)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Expert Deposition,” DRI For the Defense, (November 2011)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Deposition,” DRI For the Defense, (April 2008)
Author, “Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Trial,” DRI For the Defense, (September 2007)
Recurring speaker at the Alabama Defense Lawyer’s Association’s Annual Deposition Boot Camp
Presenter (with CNN senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin), “Inside the Supreme World of the Supreme Court,” DRI Annual Meeting
Presenter, “Effectively Leveraging Affinity Groups,” DuPont Women Lawyers Network Meeting
Presenter, “Collision Mitigation Technology: The Future is Forward-Looking,” American Bar Association, TIPS Fall Leadership Meeting/Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee
Presenter, “Affirmative Recovery Programs: How to Change Your Law Department from a Cost Center to a Profit Center,” DRI’s Corporate Counsel Roundtable
Presenter, “Business Development for Lawyers,” DRI International Seminar
Education
Samford University, Cumberland School of Law
(J.D., cum laude)
Florida State University
(B.S.)
Professional Organizations
Alabama Defense Lawyers Association (ADLA)
Birmingham Bar Association
DRI, First Vice President (2020 - 2021), President-elect (2021-2022)
Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
Awards
Alabama Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters — Environmental Litigation (2014-15)
Alabama Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, "Rising Star" — Environmental Litigation (2011-13)
Benchmark Litigation, “Local Litigation Star” — Environmental, General Commercial, Labor and Employment, Product Liability (2018-21)
Benchmark Litigation, “Top 250 Women in Litigation” (2017-21)
The Best Lawyers in America© by BL Rankings — Environmental Litigation (2011-22)
B-Metro magazine, “Top Women Attorneys” (2018, 2020)
B-Metro magazine, "Top Flight Attorneys" (2019)
Mid-South Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters — Environmental Litigation (2016-21)
Who’s Who Legal: Product Liability Defense (2017-19)
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