Jackson, Mississippi - Watkins & Eager PLLC is pleased to announce that 46 lawyers from the firm’s three offices located in Jackson and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama, have been recognized in 61 practice areas in The Best Lawyers in America©2020.
Among these recognized lawyers, 10 were named “Lawyer of the Year,” a recognition awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” for each specialty and location.
Lawyers of the Year
Paul Gunn: Commercial Finance Law
Michael O. Gwin: Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants
Walter T. Johnson: Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
Richard T. Lawrence: Litigation - Insurance
Mildred M. Morris: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
William F. Ray: Litigation - Securities
Stephanie M. Rippee: Litigation - Trusts and Estates
Jim F. Spencer, Jr.: Banking and Finance Law
Paul H. Stephenson III: Bet-the-Company Litigation
M. Binford Williams, Jr.: Corporate Compliance Law
Jackson, Mississippi
Clifford B. Ammons: Administrative / Regulatory Law; Litigation – Health Care; Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants; Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers
David L. Ayers: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Joseph G. Baladi: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Lewis W. Bell: Commercial Litigation; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Walter J. Brand: Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation – Labor and Employment
R. Neill Bryant: Land Use and Zoning Law
H. Rusty Comley: Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
James J. Crongeyer, Jr.: Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Litigation – Construction; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
George R. Fair: Administrative / Regulatory Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Corporate Governance Law; Corporate Law; Financial Services Regulation Law; Litigation – Banking and Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Municipal Law; Utilities Law
Spencer J. Flatgard: Government Relations Practice
Betty Ruth Fox: Environmental Law
Paul L. Gunn: Commercial Finance Law; Land Use and Zoning Law; Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law; Real Estate Law
Michael O. Gwin: Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law; Litigation - Insurance; Litigation – Real Estate; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants
C. Joyce Hall: Commercial Finance Law; Health Care Law; Public Finance Law
Corey D. Hinshaw: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Jamie G. Houston III: Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Corporate Governance Law; Corporate Law; Elder Law; Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Litigation and Controversy – Tax; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Nonprofit/Charities Law; Tax Law; Trusts and Estates
Robert B. Ireland III: Commercial Litigation; Land Use and Zoning Law; Litigation - Labor and Employment
Caroline K. Ivanov: Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
Mark D. Jicka: Litigation – Health Care; Product Liability Litigation – Defendants; Qui Tam Law
Walter T. Johnson: Appellate Practice; Insurance Law; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Mediation; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Louis B. Lanoux: Commercial Litigation
Richard T. Lawrence: Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law; Litigation - Insurance; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
Clark C. Luke: Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Tax Law; Trusts and Estates
Kenneth E. Milam: Arbitration; Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation – Labor and Employment; Mediation
Molly Jeffcoat Moody: Commercial Finance Law; Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
Mildred M. Morris: Litigation – Health Care; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Joseph D. Nosef III: Government Relations Practice
Steven D. Orlansky: Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Jason L. Poulson: Commercial Finance Law; Economic Development Law; Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law
William F. Ray: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Banking and Finance; Litigation – Securities; Litigation – Trusts and Estates
Stephanie M. Rippee: Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Timothy L. Sensing: Litigation - Health Care
William C. Smith III: Land Use and Zoning Law; Litigation – Land Use and Zoning; Real Estate Law
Jim F. Spencer, Jr.: Banking and Finance Law; Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Bankruptcy; Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
Susan L. Steffey: Family Law; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Paul H. Stephenson III: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Energy Law; Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants; Litigation – Banking and Finance; Natural Resources Law; Oil and Gas Law
Keith W. Turner: Environmental Law
Michael W. Ulmer: Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Jimmy B. Wilkins: Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
M. Binford Williams Jr.: Banking and Finance Law; Commercial Finance Law; Commercial Transactions / UCC Law; Corporate Compliance Law; Corporate Governance Law; Corporate Law; Derivatives and Futures Law; Economic Development Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Project Finance Law; Real Estate Law
Roger W. Williams: Commercial Finance Law; Commercial Transactions / UCC Law; Land Use and Zoning Law; Real Estate Law
J. Collins Wohner Jr.: Appellate Practice
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
J. Robert Ramsay: Health Care Law; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
Birmingham, Alabama
David L. Brown, Jr.: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
H. Lanier Brown II: Commercial Litigation; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
J. Patrick Strubel: Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
About Best Lawyers
The Best Lawyers in America© is the pre-eminent national listing of outstanding attorneys. Recognition by Best Lawyers© is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical region and legal practice area.