A native of Mobile, N. Stewart Hanley graduated from McGill-Toolen in 2000 and moved on to the University of Alabama. In 2002, he put his college career on hold to join the United States Army as an infantryman in its new Global War on Terror. After attending Basic training, Infantry training, and Airborne school at Fort Benning in Georgia, Stewart was stationed at Schofield Barracks on Oahu, Hawaii. During his first year in Hawaii, Stewart completed Air Assault School and earned his Expert Infantryman’s Badge. In 2004, Stewart was deployed on a 13 month combat tour to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II where he served as a .50 caliber machine gunner, team leader, and acting squad leader. During this deployment Stewart was twice promoted (obtaining the rank of Sergeant), was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and was subsequently awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service. After returning stateside, he completed his tour of duty with the Army in Hawaii and reentered civilian life in the summer of 2006.
Later that year Stewart returned to the University of Alabama. Graduating in May of 2008, Stewart received his Bachelor’s Degree with majors in History and Political Science. In the fall of 2008 Stewart began his legal studies at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, AL where he served as Executive Editor for the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. Stewart’s legal writings were twice published in that journal and he received multiple writing awards for other compositions. Stewart earned his Juris Doctor from Cumberland in May 2011 and began practicing law in October of that year.
Upon admission to the Alabama Bar, Stewart joined his father’s legal practice and the two formed the Hanley Law Firm. Stewart has since practiced extensively in the courts of Alabama, to include municipal, probate, district, circuit, juvenile, and federal courts; and has experience handling a wide range variety of legal matters. Stewart is a member of both the Alabama and Mobile Bar Associations, as well as the Alabama and Mobile Criminal Defense Lawyers Associations and the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. He is admitted to practice law in all Alabama state and municipal courts, as well as the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Stewart has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Peninsula of Mobile and has acted as the non-profit’s legal counsel. Stewart is also the current President of the Mobile Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.