Watkins & Eager is pleased to announce that George R. Fair will be inducted into the University of Mississippi School of Law Alumni Hall of Fame on March 23, 2024. The University of Mississippi School of Law Alumni Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding alumni of the School of Law who have, through their professional achievements and service to the school, brought honor to the UM Law School. George began his legal career at Watkins & Eager in 1974 and has been a mainstay of the firm over the ensuing decades.
“George is an exceptional attorney, mentor and person. He is the epitome of professionalism. George is most deserving of this recognition for his selfless service and professional achievements in our state, community and law firm,” said Corey D. Hinshaw, Managing Member of Watkins & Eager.
A 1973 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law, George has had both a business and commercial litigation practice. His business practice has been primarily in the areas of banking, corporate, administrative and regulatory law, and commercial transactions (including mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, public finance, and public utilities). His commercial litigation practice has been primarily in the areas of banking, fidelity and surety, construction, professional liability, and public utilities.
George was President of the Mississippi Bar in 2009-10. He also served on the Board of Bar Commissioners from 2004-07. He is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, the Mississippi Young Lawyers Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation. In 2010, he received the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project’s Pro Bono Volunteer Award. In 2017, he received the Capital Area Bar Association's Professionalism Award. In 2023, he also received the Mississippi Bar Foundation’s Professionalism Award. George has been included in The Best Lawyers in America® for over 35 years and has been listed in Chambers USA since 2002.
George is a member of the Lamar Order and served on the board of the Law Alumni Chapter of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association from 2004-2006. A long-time member of the Rotary Club of Jackson, he has been a director and a Paul Harris Fellow of that organization. He has been on the board of directors of the Mississippi Museum of Art, on the Secretary of State’s Business Law Advisory Group, and served as a member and chairman of the Bank Attorneys’ Committee of the Mississippi Bankers Association.
George is a member of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson where he is an elder and was previously chairman of the Board of Deacons and chairman of the Board of Trustees for the First Presbyterian Day School. He was also previously chairman of the Young Life Committee in Jackson. He has been on the board and the executive committee of Reformed Theological Seminary for the past thirty-nine (39) years. George and his wife, Bette Bailey Fair, have been married for fifty-one (51) years. They have three grown children: Bailey R. Fair (Miriam) of Jackson, Elizabeth McIntosh (John Mark) of Tupelo, and Mary Love Koons (Phillip) of Dallas.