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Areas of Emphasis
- Antitrust Litigation
- General Business Litigation
- Banking and Consumer Lending Litigation
- Sales Practices Litigation
- Consumer Protection and Fraud Litigation
- Unfair Competition and Trade Secret Litigation
Distinctions
- Mid-South Rising Stars®, Business Litigation
- 2009 Pro Bono Award, Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project
Education & Honors
- University of Mississippi, J.D., magna cum laude, 1999
- Associate Articles Editor, Mississippi Law Journal
- Robert Khayat Award for Distinguished Service, Mississippi Law Journal
- Millsaps College, B.S., economics, summa cum laude, 1996
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Associations
- American Bar Association
- Section on Antitrust
- Federal Bar Association
- Secretary, Mississippi Chapter
- Charles Clark American Inn of Court
- Defense Research Institute
- Commercial Litigation Committee
- Steering Committee, 2003-09
- Chair, Antitrust Committee
- Young Lawyers Committee
- Steering Committee, 2003-2009
- Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
- Mississippi Bar
- Young Lawyers Division
- Mock Trial Committee
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Capital Area Bar Association
Bar Admissions
- Mississippi, 1999
- Tennessee, 1999
- U.S. District Courts
- Tennessee: Western District
- Mississippi: Northern and Southern Districts
- U.S. Court of Appeals
- 5th Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
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Legal Experience
- Counsel in Ameristar Casino Vicksburg, Inc. v. Duckworth, 990 So. 2d 758 (Miss. 2008) for several major casinos acting as Amicus Curiae seeking to have the Court's prior opinion withdrawn and replaced. The casinos objected to the Court's categorization of certain lawful promotional drawings as "raffles." On rehearing, the casinos successfully convinced the Court to remove the "raffle" language.
- Counsel in Barbour v. State ex rel. Hood, 974 So. 2d 232 (Miss. 2008) for Governor Haley Barbour in Governor Barbour's successful defense of his calling of the special Senate election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Senator Trent Lott. The calling had been challenged on constitutional and statutory grounds by Attorney General Jim Hood.
- Counsel in Shelter Mut. Ins. Co. v. Dale, 914 So. 2d 698 (Miss. 2005) for Shelter Mutual Insurance Company and Shelter General Insurance Company in their successful challenge of the Mississippi Department of Insurance's prohibition on punitive damages exclusions from standard automobile liability policies. This was an issue of first impression under Mississippi law.
- Counsel in Sullivan v. Protex Weatherproofing, Inc., 913 So. 2d 256 (Miss. 2005) for Protex Weatherproofing, Inc. and ATX Telecom, Inc. in their successful defense of a lower court's Order compelling arbitration of all claims against both a signatory to the contract containing the arbitration agreement and a non-signatory defendant. This was an issue of first impression under Mississippi law.
- Counsel in Tunica Web Advertising, Inc. v. Barden Mississippi Gaming, LLC, 2005 WL 3488499 (N.D. Miss. 2005) for major casino in Tunica, Mississippi, in an antitrust action brought by internet advertiser under Sherman Section One against entire casino industry in Tunica, Mississippi.
- Counsel in Carder v. BASF Corp., 919 So. 2d 258 (Miss. 2005), Carder v. BASF Corp., 2003 WL 25267524 (Miss. Chancery Court Nov. 19, 2003), Hood v. BASF Corp., 2005 WL 4685054 (Miss. Chancery Court Feb. 17, 2005), and certain other actions, representing major vitamins manufacturer in antitrust and consumer protection actions brought by multiple plaintiffs, and eventually by the State of Mississippi, alleging price fixing in the marketing and sale of vitamins and vitamin-containing products.
- Counsel for major smokeless tobacco manufacturer in numerous antitrust and consumer protection actions brought by consumers of smokeless tobacco products alleging price fixing in the marketing and sale of smokeless tobacco products.
- Counsel for major pharmaceutical manufacturers in 'AWP' (average wholesale price) litigation brought by the State of Mississippi, through the Mississippi Attorney General's office, on behalf of the State Division of Medicaid, alleging price fixing and other anticompetitive practices against most of the major players in the pharmaceutical industry related to their reimbursement practices for prescriptions dispensed to Medicaid recipients.
- Counsel for major mortgage wholesale lender in numerous 'mortgage fraud flipping' cases brought by borrowers against lender, mortgage brokers/mortgage companies, and various other parties.
- Counsel for major consumer finance company in the hundreds of 'mass tort' cases brought by thousands of borrowers over sales practices related to credit insurance products. See, e.g., Queen v. American General Finance, Inc., 351 F. Supp. 2d 576, (S.D. Miss. 2005).
- Counsel for several major life, health and disability insurance companies in numerous cases brought by policy-holders against these insurance companies for sales practices relating to 'vanishing' premium universal life insurance policies, long-term care insurance policies, hospitalization policies and other insurance products. See, e.g., Gammill v. Lincoln Life and Annuity Distributors, Inc., 200 F. Supp. 2d. 632 (S.D. Miss. 2001).
Papers, Presentations, & Publications
- Antitrust 2009: A Primer, Defense Research Institute, Commercial and Intellectual Property Litigation Symposium, April 2009
- Damages Chapter, Mississippi Encyclopedia of Law
- Mississippi Section, 50-State Compendium on State Consumer Protection Act Statutes, Defense Research Institute
- Mississippi Section, 50-State Compendium on State Consumer Protection Act Statutes, Product Liability Advisory Council
- An Ounce of Prevention Worth Pounds of Cure: Disclosure and Defense of RICO Claims in Force Placed-Insurance Litigation, Mississippi Law Journal, May 1999
- Program Chair, Advanced Litigation Skills for Taking Your Case Through Final Verdict, DRI's Young Lawyers Seminar in Miami Beach, Florida, June 15-16, 2006
- New Activism from the State Attorneys General: The Parens Patriae Approach, DRI's For The Defense, August 2006
- Speaker, Advanced Litigation Skills for Taking Your Case Through Final Verdict, DRI's Young Lawyers Seminar in San Diego, California, June 7-8, 2007
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