About

Education: Notre Dame H. S. [1969]; Millsaps College [cum laude, 1973]; Univ. of Miss. Law School [1975] Moot Ct Brd Chairman; Honors Council; Speakers Bureau; Tulane Admiralty Inst; Tulane Law & Medicine Inst [1986;1991]; Employment [1971-2020]: Miss. Secretary of State Heber Ladner; William Waller, Sr., Mississippi Governor (1973); Wm F. Minor, Miss. Editor of New Orleans Times-Picayune (1971-73); Daniel, Coker Law Firm (1973, Summer Intern); No. MS Legal Services Corp.; Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights; Vlahos & Caranna, Attorneys, City of Biloxi, MS Municipal Attorneys 1975-1979. Self-Employed Trial Lawyer 1979 - 2022; Licenses-Bar Admissions: Mississippi Bar [1975 - date] 46 years Active Trial Attorney; Mississippi Supreme Court [1975- ]; U. S. Dist. Court For The So. District of Miss. [1975- ]; U. S. Dist. Court For The No. District of Miss. [1975 - ]; U. S. Ct of Appeals, 5th Circuit [1983- ]; Assn Trial Lawyers of America; AAJ; Mississippi Bar Ass’n (msbar.org) [Ethics Comm., 2007-09]; City of Biloxi, MS Election Commission [Elected 1976-80]; Law Instructor: Univ. of So. Miss., Gulf Coast (1976 - 95) Business Law and Real Estate Law, Real Estate Principles; and MS Gulf Coast Comm. College (1976-90) Business Law; CLE Courses: Liab. Ins. Coverage & Work. Comp. Issues, Miss. Business Inst. Course; Reported Cases:  McLemore v. Gammon, 468 So. 2d 84 (Miss. S.Ct. 1985)[Case of 1st impression = $0.5 Million recovered   Ham Marine, Inc. v. Roy Anderson Corp. = $1.86 Million recovered for sub-kr on Palace Casion;  Ham Marine, Inc. v. First Trust , USCA, No. 98-60580 (5th Cir. 2000) [Case of 1st impression; est'd floating Casino as a "vessel" for lien purposes;  Howard Lane v. Hartson-Kennedy Cabinet Co., et al, 981 So.2d 1063 (Miss. Ct. Apps. 2008) [rep'd injd worker on Appeal, obtaining Reversal of denial of $165K in worker’s comp benefits and Reversal of denial of $465K of unpaid med. benefits]; Gulf Nat'l Bank v. King, 362 So.2d 1253 (Miss. S. Ct.1979) [Represented poor lady gratis v. Bank, defeating post-foreclosure action].Some Notable Unreported Cases:  Mauldin v. US [SD MS 1989] $42.5 Million FTCA recovery + Unlimited Free Lifetime Healthcare for mother and child from medical mal of new born child; Sea Harvest, Inc., W. Hicks v. City of Biloxi MS [SD MS 1986-95] $1.35 Million recovered + $26Million sale to New Palace Casino Biloxi, MS;  Bui v. Hertz, et al. [SD Miss., 1985 - 1989] $350K [UM]+ $100K [Life Ins.] recovered for family of Vietnam refugees who could not speak English and came in 5 days before SOL; Zeller v. Bork-Shiley Div., Pfizer [USDC, CD CA 1989-94] heart valve death $1.2Million recovered [w/o confid. settlement; all evidence of defects preserved and published in British Medical Society's The Lancet; Tennort, et al v CSX Trans. [USDC, SD MS 1990-95, 1st RR recovery in USDC SD MS vs. CSX]; 25 Other separate RR Injury Cases Recoveries [1995-2005]; Creel v. USF& G., et al. [USDC, SD AL 1994-96] $250K UM Benefs + $100K W.C. Benefts + all Meds [stacked 125 UM Policies x $10K] Trucker returned to work; Sankey, By Williams v. Gulf Beach Hotel, et al.  [USDC, S D MS, 1996 - 2000] Six figure settlement on drowning death case of blind, epilectic AA male whose family came in just days before SOL; Endres v. USA [S D MS, 2004] Child's Wrongful Death at USAF Hospital, $0.75 Million recovered [then-the Maximum Fed Tort Claim Act recovery under Mississippi's Tort Reform Limits]; Kelly v. Coregis Ins. [SDMS, 2006] $1Million Lifetime pay out from UM Carrier by stacking 1500 Miss. School Buses + $100K+ Benefs for AA male injured 17 years earlier on a Wayne Co.,MS School Bus + all meds + all fees & costs; Sunkist Country Club, Inc. v. Travelers Ins. Cos., XL Spec. Ins. [SD MS, 2005-10] $1Million Hurricane Katrina case] + $250K BP Recovery; Other Hurricane Katrina Cases: 2007-2013 40+ Katrina suits v. Insurers = $15Million+ recovered; BP Claims resolved [2010 to 2015] $6Million+ recovered for Small Businesses; Soares v. State Farm [2016] $0.25 Million UM settlement; DDC, Smith & Rogers v. ZURICH. [2017 Harrison Co., MS Circuit Ct] $1.1 Million recovered [Failure to Defend Builder]; Breland v. Brierfield Ins. Co. [2019] $0.565 Million UM settlement; Personal Life: Married 49 Years; Hobbies: Travel with family, friends & Reading everything. Motto: "We are our brothers and sisters keepers."                                                       

Practices Areas

Personal Injury

Brain injury

Language

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