Partner
254 State Street
Mobile, AL 36603
251.439.7506 tel
251.431.9401 fax


Print PDF  | vCard

Palmer Hamilton is a member of the firm's Government Relations Practice Group. He has held several senior posts within several administrations, and he has been active representing clients in Congress for three decades in the areas of finance and government affairs. Mr. Hamilton's prior governmental experience includes service as an Assistant to the Comptroller of the Currency and Chief of New Bank Chartering of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. Hamilton has also served on various federal, state, and city boards. He has been active in the political realm in support of various candidacies, including his service as Chairman of the Reelection Committee for U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee.

Over the years, Mr. Hamilton has acted as Washington counsel for JPMorgan Chase & Co., former Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon, former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Preston Martin, Prudential, Sears, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors, Bayerische Landesbank, Israel Discount Bank, as well as special counsel for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Resolution Trust Corporation, and the Federal Home Loan Bank system. He has also served as an adviser to numerous public officials, including mayors, county commissioners, university presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Attorneys General, and Governors. Mr. Hamilton also ran a gubernatorial transition team. While practicing law, Mr. Hamilton has also been a regular newspaper columnist, concentrating on public affairs and financial issues.

In addition, Mr. Hamilton has served as Washington counsel to various non-U.S. entities such as the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, for which he assisted the Foundation, run by Rory Stewart, in obtaining Congressional legislative language in support of the Foundation's efforts to restore the historic commercial district of Kabul.   

In the civic arena, Mr. Hamilton has been an active member of various organizations, including the Order of St. John, The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops' Task Force on the current issues facing that Church and the Anglican Communion, the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, The Society of the Cincinnati, and the Alabama Council on Human Relations. He has headed revolving funds that have restored dozens of historic properties with a value in the tens of millions of dollars. The website ovrf.org relates to one of these revolving funds and the properties that have been restored. Additionally, Mr. Hamilton served as a reporter for Business Alabama and as a guest columnist for The Mobile Press-Register from 1979–2005.

Noteworthy

• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2010 (Copyright 2009 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) in the area of Corporate Law
• AV® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell
  
• Founded the "Bring Back Broad Initiative" to revitalize the Broad Street corridor from the GM&O to Brookley Field
• Founded the Oakleigh Venture Revolving Fund, which has restored more than 25 properties with a value approaching $10 million; the fund's starting grant corpus was $300,000
• Recipient of the Historic Mobile Preservation Society's 2008 Preservationist of Distinction Award for his work in preserving historic architecture in Mobile, Alabama
  

News

• 2010 Best Lawyers in America Rankings Showcase Jones Walker’s Depth, Growth
• Hamilton Profiled in RTOHQ: The Magazine
• Hamilton Featured in The Birmingham News
• Jones Walker Attorneys Named to Positions in Order of British Crown
• Hamilton Joins Financier Worldwide Roundtable Panel for Discussion on Financial Services Outlook
• Jones Walker Joins with Miller Hamilton

Memberships

Civic/Community

• The 1868 Society (Member)
  
• Alabama Museum of Natural History (Member, Board of Directors)
• Athelstan Club, Mobile (Member)
  
• Christ Episcopal Church, Mobile (Vestryman, Stewardship Chairman, and Capital Fund Chairman, 1983–1985)
• Downtown Mobile YMCA (Member, Board of Directors)
  
• The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops' Task Force on Property (Member, Executive Committee, 2006 to date)
• The Franklin Society (Member)
• Friends of Magnolia Cemetery (Member)
  
• Friends of the Mobile Public Library (Member)
• Friends of the University of South Alabama Archives (Member, Past President)
  
• The Huguenot Society of South Carolina (Member)
  
• Mobile Carnival Association (Member, Board of Directors)
  
• Mobile Historic Development Commission, City of Mobile (Member, 1995 to date)
• Mobile Historic Homes Tour (President, 1978)
• Mobile Public Library (Chairman, Board of Trustees)
• Mobile Revolving Fund of the Mobile Historic Development Commission (President, 1979–1980)
• Oakleigh Garden District Society (Member)
  
• Oakleigh Venture Revolving Fund (President, 2001 to date)
• Re-Election Campaign of Senator Richard C. Shelby (State Chairman, 1992)
• The Society of the Cincinnati of the State of South Carolina (Member)
• The South Carolina Historical Society (Member)
  
• Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast (Member, 2006–2009)
• United States Priory of the Order of St. John (Member, Board of Governors, 2009 to date)
• The University Club of Washington, D.C. (Member)
  

Governmental Appointments

• Mayor Sam Jones Transition Committee (Member, 2005)
• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (Chief, New Bank Chartering, 1975–1976)
• United States Department of Transportation (Member, Towing Safety Advisory Committee)
• United States Department of the Treasury (Assistant to the Comptroller of the Currency, 1974–1976)
• United States Senator John J. Sparkman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (Staff Member)
  

Professional/Corporate Board Memberships

• Alabama Banking Code Revision Committee (Member)
  
• Alabama Law Institute (Member)
  
• Alabama State Bar (Member)
  
• American Bar Association (Member)
  
• Federal Bar Association (Member)
  
• Maritime Law Association of the United States (Member)
• Mississippi Export Railroad (Member, Board of Directors)
  
• Mobile Bar Association (Member, Law Library Committee)