Prior to joining the Lightfoot firm, Judge Pointer served as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Alabama from 1970-2000, and as the Northern District's Chief Judge from 1982-1999. He also served as a judge on the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1980-1987. During his almost 30 years on the bench, Judge Pointer presided over the trial or settlement of a wide variety of major class, multidistrict, multiparty, and other complex cases - including the Silicone Gel Breast Implant Litigation. As Chairman of the Board of Editors, he was the principal author of the Manual for Complex Litigation, Second, and he served for seven years as a member of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. While on the federal bench, Judge Pointer served as Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, of the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, of the Judicial Ethics Committee, and of the Judicial Council for the eleventh Circuit. He is a Life Member of the American Law Institute, and a past Director of the American Judicature Society.