Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, an American Bar Association Accredited Organization.

PRACTICE VENUES: Mississippi; United States Supreme Court; United States Courts of Appeals Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi; United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee; United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

PRACTICE AREAS: General Insurance and Corporate Defense; Moeller Counsel; Products Liability Defense; Insurance Coverage Law; Fraud and Arson Defense and Special Investigations; Labor & Employment Litigation; Bad Faith Defense; Automobile Liability and Uninsured Motorist Defense; Toxic Tort Defense; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Mediation; Expert Witness; Interpleader Proactive.

Education: University of Mississippi School of Law (J.D., Valedictorian, with distinction, 1976); University of Southern California (M.S., 1974); University of Southern Mississippi (B.S., 1971); Phi Delta Phi; Omicron Delta Kappa; Phi Kappa Phi; Phi Delta Phi Outstanding First Year Student Award. Articles Editor, Mississippi Law Journal (1976). Law clerk, Honorable William C. Keady, Chief Judge, U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi (1977-79). Listed in Who’s Who in Mississippi Law.

Presentations:  "Mediation Panel and Deposition Academy," MS College School of Law (2018); "Ethics: Sources, Relationships and Reality, Financial Planning Association of Northeast Mississippi Annual Symposium (2014) and Ole Miss Risk Management and Insurance Symposium, University of Mississippi (2013); "SIU: More than a Background Check or Surveillance," Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (2012); "Mississippi Insurance Law: Key Points and Strategies," Sentry Insurance (2012); "Insurance Fraud Initiatives," Council on Litigation Management (2011); "Insurance Law Update," The Republic Group (2011); "Avoiding and Defending Bad Faith - Best Claims and Litigation Strategy," Council on Litigation Management, Birmingham, AL (2010); “If Chinese Drywall Covers the Walls, Are Those Walls Covered?” Joint Seminar of the Mississippi Claims Association and the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, Flowood, Mississippi (2009); “Fundamentals of Litigation Management and Related Topics,” GEICO, Macon, Georgia (2009); “Fundamentals of Litigation Management,” Council on Litigation Management, Columbus, Ohio (2009); “Opening Statements,” Trial Practice Academy, Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, Oxford, Mississippi (2007); “Venue, Joinder, Intrastate Forum Non Conveniens and Other Issues,” Eighth Annual Trial Practice Seminar, Prentiss County Mississippi Bar Association (2007); “Coverage Issues/Claim Handling,” PIA/MCA Convention Continuing Education (2005); “Tort Reform in Mississippi,” Mississippi State University Insurance Day, Starkville, Mississippi (2002); “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Privacy Act: An Overview of Compliance Obligations and Questions Left Unanswered Under the Act,” “Loss Control Issues: How to Recognize Potential Problems From Both an Agency and Claims Standpoint,” and “Bad Faith: It Is Best to Avoid It, Here’s How,” Continuing Education Seminar for the Professional Insurance Agents of Mississippi/Mississippi Claims Annual Convention, Orange Beach, Alabama (2001); “Update on Ethics Opinions in Mississippi,” Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association Southern Regional Meeting (2000); “Recent Developments in Mississippi Insurance Law,” Ole Miss Insurance Symposium, Oxford, Mississippi (2000); “Update on Insurance Law Developments,” University of Mississippi Insurance Symposium (2000); “Constitutional Issues Raised by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act,” Mississippi Governmental Tort Immunity Seminar (1998); Counsel in bad faith/arson/insurance fraud mock trial for the Mississippi Fire Investigators Association Fire and Arson School (1997); “Legal Implications of Current Version of National Fire Protection Association §921,” State Farm Insurance Companies Special Investigative Unit Workshop,” Birmingham, Alabama (1996); “Defense of Fire, Fraud and Bad Faith,” Mississippi State University College of Business and Industry (1994); Defense Counsel in bad faith/arson/insurance fraud mock trial for State Farm Fire and Casualty Company's Advanced Claim School (1993); “Insurance Defense Issues and Recent Developments,” Mississippi Claims Association State Convention (1992); “Insurance Defense Issues in Mississippi,” Safeco Insurance Company, Nashville, Tennessee (1987); “First Party Bad Faith Defense,” Southern Farm Bureau Insurance Companies (1985); “Arson and Fraud Defense in Mississippi,” State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (1984).

Publications:  "Reasonable Expectations: Interpreting Insurance Policies in Common Law Jurisdictions," American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (forthcoming 2016); "The Internet vs. Good Old-Fashioned Sleuthing," The CLM, Claims Management, March 2016; "Ethics: Sources, Relationships and Reality," Seminar Publication (2013); Co-Author: "How Detection and Prevention Can Avoid the High Cost of Insurance Fraud," Litigation Management, Summer 2011; Monograph: “Venue, Joinder, Intrastate Forum Non Conveniens and Other Issues Related to Where the Chickens Can Insist the Other Chickens Come to Roost,” Perspective From the Bench and the Bar (2007); “United States Supreme Court Holds Punitive Damages Award in Insurance Bad Faith Case Excessive and Violative of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” The MDLA Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Co-Author)(2003); “Y2K - Klear? Konfusing?” The MDLA Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Co-Author) (1999); “Ethical Prohibition on Third Party Audits and Other Related Issues,” The MDLA Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Co-Author)(1999); “Constitutional Issues Raised by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act” (Co-Author)(1998); “The Legal Burden of Proof Implications of NFPA 921 Should be Removed,” National Fire and Arson Report, Vol. 14, No. 3, September 1996; “Unanimous Verdict for Insurer in Civil Arson Case in 'Clear and Convincing' Jurisdiction," National Fire and Arson Report, Vol. 13, No. 3, Page 18, September 1995; Monograph: "Constitutional Arguments Against the Assessment of Punitive Damages," The MDLA Quarterly (Dec. 1989).

Member: Mississippi State Bar Association (Mississippi State Bar Delegate to Judicial Conference of Fifth Circuit (1984-86)); Mississippi Claims Association (2001), Legal/Legislative Committee Chair (2001); University of Mississippi Risk Management and Insurance Advisory Board (2000-2014) (Outstanding Supporter Award, 2008): Chairman-Elect (2003), Chairman (2004-2005), Distinguished Service Award (2005); University of Mississippi Insurance Symposium Chairman (2005); Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association (President 2000; President-Elect 1999; Secretary/Treasurer 1998; Editor of The MDLA Quarterly 1998; Co-Editor of The MDLA Quarterly 1999; Board of Directors 1994-98); Chairman, Northeast Mississippi Regional Committee 1989, 1991, 1992; Ethics Committee Vice Chairman 1990; Distinguished Service Award 2000); Defense Research Institute; Lee County Bar Association; American Bar Association (Litigation and Torts Section; Insurance Practice Section); Mediator for American Bar Association Mediation Competition (2005); Atlanta Claims Association; National Fire Protection Association; International Association of Arson Investigators, Inc.; Mississippi Fire Investigators Association; Association of Defense Trial Attorneys; Outstanding Lawyers of America; Mid South “Super Lawyer” in Insurance Coverage (2007-2015); ABA Advisory Panel (2008-2009); Council on Litigation Management (2009-2010); Council on Litigation Management Bad Faith Committee (2010), Co-Chair for Region 5 Mississippi and Louisiana (2010); 2018 Top Attorneys for the Memphis Area by Memphis Magazine [United States Air Force, active duty 1971-1974].