Home > Fred E. (Trey) Bourn III

Fred E. (Trey) Bourn III

Fred E. (Trey) Bourn III
  • Practice Group Leader, Products, Catastrophic & Industrial Litigation Group

Contact

(601) 985-4591 Email Me Download vCard Connect on LinkedIn

Practice Areas

Industries

Trey serves as Practice Group Leader for the Products, Catastrophic and Industrial Litigation Group. His current practice is focused on defending pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in cases pending in various state and federal venues throughout the country.  He also has experience representing clients in the areas of recreational vehicles, watercraft, automatic doors, automobiles, home appliances, industrial machinery, children’s toys, and natural gas pipelines. He also counsels manufacturers on risk management, including product safety, recalls, and compliance matters involving the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Biography – View PDF Bio

Associations

Bar Admissions

  • Mississippi, 2000
  • Tennessee, 2013
  • U.S. District Courts
    • Mississippi: Northern, Southern
    • New York: Northern
    • Tennessee: Middle, Western
  • U.S. Court of Appeals
    • 5th Circuit
    • 6th Circuit

Distinctions

  • Best Lawyers in America®
    • Commercial Litigation, 2017-2022
    • Product Liability – Defendants, 2022
  • Martindale-Hubbell®
    • AV®– Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
  • Super Lawyers®
    • Mid-South Super Lawyers, Personal Injury – Products: Defense, 2013-2020
    • Mid-South Rising Star, Personal Injury – Products: Defense, 2009-2010
  • Benchmark Litigation
    • Member of the team selected as nationwide Product Liability Firm of the Year, 2018
  • 2017 Yancey Memorial Award, awarded to the best article in IADC’s Defense Counsel Journal
  • 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Insurance Law, Martindale-Hubbell®
  • Top 40 Under 40, Mississippi Business Journal, 2008
  • Graduate, Leadership Jackson, 2003-2004
  • J.B. Carr Community Service Award
IADC<br>

Education & Honors

  • University of Mississippi, J.D., 2000
    • Editor-in-Chief, Mississippi Law Journal
  • Mississippi State University, M.A., English, 1997
    • Associate Editor, The Mississippi Quarterly
  • Baylor University, B.A., Journalism and English, 1993

Experience

  • Trey's experience includes being a key member of a national coordinating counsel team, since 2013, for a medical device manufacturer in state and federal court proceedings in California, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee, with extensive experience in:
    • All aspects of fact discovery, including deposing plaintiffs, prescribing physicians, treating physicians, and medical experts.
    • Taking and defending expert depositions.
    • Drafting and arguing discovery and dispositive motions.
    • Preparing and defending company witnesses for depositions and trial testimony.
    • Retaining, and developing challenges to, expert witnesses
    • Developing, coordinating, and implementing defense strategy in concurrent federal and state court proceedings.
  • Represents clients in areas of recreational vehicles, watercraft, automatic doors, automobiles, firearms, home appliances, industrial machinery, children’s toys and natural gas pipelines.
  • Significant Trials
  • Miss. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. CNH America, et al.:  Subrogation action (products liability and warranty) involving industrial cotton picker. Tried in United States District Court of Southern Mississippi.  (Trial Counsel) (2011).
  • Gulf South Pipeline Company LP v. Blanche Mari Downy Pitre, Eminent Domain action. Tried in the County Court of Warren County, Mississippi, Special Court of Eminent Domain (Trial Counsel) (2007).
  • Lloyd Richard Lovitt, et al. v. The Stanley Works, et al.: Product liability and premises liability action involving automatic door. Tried in U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi.  (Trial Counsel) (2006).
  • Jimmy D. Houser v. Empire Truck Sales: Commercial and product liability action involving industrial machinery. Tried in the County Court of Rankin County, Mississippi.  (Trial Counsel) (2003).
  • Lionel M. Arnold v. Doug Sproat: Unlawful force action against prison warden. Tried in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.  (Trial Counsel) (2002).
  • Waren v. Nationwide Ins. Co.: Personal injury action involving car accident. Tried in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.  (Trial Counsel) (2002).
    • More...

In the News

Papers, Presentations, & Publications

  • Speaker, “Product Recalls: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst,” Tennessee Association of Corporate Counsel, Nashville, Tennessee, February 25, 2021.
  • Co-Author, “Product Liability & Safety USA Trends and Developments,” 2020 Chambers Global Practice Guide, July 2020.  
  • Co-Author, “Product Liability & Safety USA Trends and Developments,” 2019 Chambers Global Practice Guide, July 2019.  
  • ​Co-Author, “The Use of Computer-Generated Animations and Simulations at Trial,” 83 Def. Couns. J. 439 (2016) ​(winner of the 2017 Yancey Memorial Award).
  • Co-Author, Voir Dire section in IADC’s Defense Counsel Training Manual, Third Edition.
  • Speaker, “Why So Animated?  Pros and Cons of Using Animation and Videos in Product Liability Cases,” 2016 IADC Annual Meeting, Product Liability Committee, Bermuda.
  • Speaker, “Emerging Issues and Current Laws,” 2013 National Business Institute Seminar, Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi.
  • Speaker, “Identifying the Type of Tort, Related Cause of Action, and Damages,” 2013 National Business Institute Seminar, Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi.
  • Author, “Why Expansion of Commerce and Trade Does Not Expand the Reach of the Courts: In Personam Jurisdiction and Stream-of-Commerce Theory,” For The Defense, November 2011.
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