Challener

Deborah is a member of Butler Snow's Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Litigation group.

Appellate & Written Advocacy

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

Deborah Challener, former academic affairs associate dean and longtime professor at Mississippi College School of Law, is a member of Butler Snow’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Litigation group.

Deborah is a member of the ABA Appellate Practice Committee, which brings together top litigators from across the nation focused on issues including amicus curiae briefs, appeal bonds, appellate briefs, oral arguments, appellate jurisdiction, rules of appellate procedure, standards of review, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Deborah currently serves as Vice Chair of the ABA Appellate Practice Committee.

For 20 years, Deborah served as a leading administrative and faculty member for MC Law, most recently holding the title of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Owen Cooper Professor of Law. Prior to MC Law, Deborah taught at the University of Maine and Washburn University, worked for the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, and clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

In 2022, Deborah was a recipient of the “Outstanding Woman Lawyer Award” from the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association.

At MC Law, Deborah’s scholarship focused on civil procedure, with an emphasis on the removal of cases from state to federal court and the myriad of issues that arise therefrom. She taught Civil Procedure I and II, Conflict of Laws, Federal Courts, Complex Litigation, and Removal Jurisdiction, an Intersession Course. She won numerous teaching awards, including Professor of the Year.

Deborah has published several articles on civil procedure issues and is the author of the venue chapter in Mississippi Civil Procedure. She formerly served on the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules and as a CALI Civil Procedure Fellow.

After receiving her J.D. in 1998, Deborah clerked for The Hon. Deanell Reece Tacha at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and The Hon. Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Deborah received her B.A. degree from Oberlin College, her Master’s degree in Public Policy from Vanderbilt University, and her J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Deborah has represented clients in matters involving a range of complex legal issues, including appellate briefing in federal and state courts, constitutional questions, fraudulent transfers under the Uniform Commercial Code, desegregation cases, and matters involving federal education law.

• Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year, Mississippi Women Lawyers Association, 2022
• Professor of the Year, American Association of Law Schools
  • First Year Professor of the Year, 2022-23 (Section Award)
  • First Year Professor of the Year, 2020-21 (Section Award
    • Professor of the Year, 2020-21
  • First Year Professor of the Year, 2019-20 (Section Award)
    • Professor of the Year, 2019-20

• Mississippi, 2024
• California, 2001

• University of Tennessee College of Law, J.D., 1998
• Vanderbilt University, M.P.P., 1995
• Oberlin College, B.A., 1990

• American Bar Association
  • Appellate Practice Committee, Vice-Chair
• Capital Area Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit
  • Programming Committee
• Mississippi Bar Association
  • Appellate Practice Section
    • Member at Large (2025-2026)
  • Women in the Profession Section
    • 2025 Price-Prather Luncheon, Cha

Papers & Publications

• "Procedural Confusion During Trial Leads to Remand," interviewed in American Bar Association Litigation News, December 2024 (subscription required)
• "Practice Pointer: Unrefrigerated Dead Fish and Other Tips for Getting the Most You Can Out of the Standard of Review," earlier version published by the American Bar Association, Appellate Practice Pointers, November 2024
• "Procedural Lessons for Litigators from Fifth Circuit Decision in Palmquist," published in Texas Lawyer, an ALM/Law.com publication, June 2024
• "Venue," Mississippi Civil Procedure, Jeffrey Jackson, Donald Campbell, and Justin Matheny, eds. (Thomson Reuters) (updated annually)
• "Teaching and Learning Personal Jurisdiction After the Stealth Revolution," 70 Fla. L. Rev. F. 96(2018)
• "Mixed Cases of Law and Equity in Mississippi Courts," 35 Miss. C. L. Rev. 386, with Michael H. Hoffheimer (2017)

Seminars & Presentations

• Federal Court Update, Mississippi Bar Appellate Practice CLE, Panelist (May 16, 2025)
• Administrative Boot Camp for New and Aspiring Deans and Associate Deans, American Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting, New York City, NY (2022, 2023)
• Res Judicata in Mississippi, State Appellate Judges Conference, Oxford, MS (2018)
• Notice of Service and Process, Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Lesson (2019)
• Diversity Jurisdiction, Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Lesson (2018)
• Removal and Remand: The Basics, Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Lesson (2018)
• Removal and Remand: Litigation Strategy, Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) Lesson (2018)
• Mixed Jurisdiction in Mississippi Courts, State Trial and Appellate Judges Conference, Biloxi, MS (2017)

• Stewpot Community Services, Volunteer