Butler Snow attorney P. Ryan Beckett has been elected to serve as Chair of the Foundation for Mississippi History. Beckett previously served on the Foundation’s Board of Directors as Vice Chair and has been a member since 2018.
The Foundation for Mississippi History was established in 2005 to help meet the needs of a broad range of projects—from the opening of the Eudora Welty House in 2006, to the opening of the restored Old Capitol Museum in 2009, to the 2 Mississippi Museums project. The Foundation conducts fundraising efforts to help support and promote the activities, programs, projects and purposes of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). Its board meets at least twice a year to review financial reports and to consult with staff on strategic plans for the department’s museums, sites and programs. A particular function of the Foundation is advising MDAH on the direction of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, for which the Foundation raised $20 million for the design and construction.
At Butler Snow, Beckett serves as the firm’s Recruiting & Assimilation Partner in the Ridgeland, Mississippi, office. He is a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group and concentrates his practice on antitrust, competition and trade regulation, financial services litigation, commercial litigation, election and campaign finance, intellectual property litigation, governmental litigation and business torts and unfair competition. Beckett has represented major consumer products manufacturers, financial services companies and other corporate and governmental entities in contract, consumer protection and antitrust matters. He is also a registered lobbyist in the state of Mississippi and handles government affairs for several technology and services companies.
Beckett is AV®-Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in commercial litigation. Beckett was previously acknowledged by Super Lawyers® Mid-South Super Lawyers and Mid-South Rising Stars. Beckett was named in the Top 40 Under 40 by the Mississippi Business Journal and was awarded the Pro Bono Award in 2009 by the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Alongside these distinctions, Beckett is active in a number of professional and community organizations. He is the former president of the Mississippi Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) (Vice Chair of the Energy Committee and a member of the Admissions and Sites Committees), and the Defense Research Institute (DRI) (former Steering Committee of the Commercial Litigation Committee, Chair of the Anti-Trust Sub-Committee, and Young Lawyers Steering Committee).
Ryan Beckett obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Millsaps College and his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Mississippi.
