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VOL. LXII WINTER 2016 NO. 2 experience drive A National CPA Advisory Firm What are you pushing toward Missing details and deadlines can be costly. You need advisors who can keep you on track and deliver cost-effective results reliably and objectively. BKDs Forensics Valuation Services division can help. In addition to litigation support and expert testimony we offer a broad range of forensics and valuation services to meet your needs. Experience how our support can help give you the traction to pull ahead. Peder Johnson Managing Partner pjohnsonbkd.com 601.948.6700 bkd.com The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 5 VOL. LXII WINTER 2016 NO. 2 PRESIDENT Roy D. Campbell III Jackson PRESIDENT-ELECT W. Briggs Hopson III Vicksburg SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT Jennie A. Eichelberger Jackson IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Eugene M. Harlow Gene Laurel BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Jennifer T Baker Gulfport L W Broadhead Mendenhall Roy D Campbell III Jackson Melissa Carleton Union Diala H Chaney Oxford Bryant W Clark Lexington Howard Q Davis Jr Indianola Robert M Dreyfus Jr Meridian Jessica M Dupont Pascagoula Michelle D Easterling West Point John M Edwards Jr Pontotoc Jennie A Eichelberger Jackson Shannon S Elliott Brandon Laura M Glaze Flowood Eugene M Harlow Laurel Mark R Holmes McComb W Briggs Hopson III Vicksburg Penny B Lawson Vicksburg William Liston III Jackson Lawrence L Little Oxford Cynthia I Mitchell Clarksdale O S Montagnet III Ridgeland David L Morrow Jr Brandon Joseph D Neyman Jr Hernando John A Piazza Laurel R P Randall Jr Ridgeland Karen K Sawyer Gulfport James D Shannon Hazlehurst Matthew D Shoemaker Hattiesburg Chadwick L Shook Hattiesburg Scott F Slover Natchez Kent E Smith Holly Springs Susan R Tsimortos Jackson Ashley N Wicks Ridgeland Rebecca L Wiggs Jackson Ronald S Wright Ackerman YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION President Diala H. Chaney Oxford President-Elect Jenny Tyler Baker Gulfport ABA DELEGATES Joy Lambert Phillips Gulfport W.C. Cham Trotter III Belzoni EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Larry Houchins Jackson EDITOR Chad Russell Jackson MANAGING EDITOR Melanie Henry Jackson ADVERTISING MANAGER Krissa Dobbins Easley Jackson The Mississippi Lawyer is published quarterly by The Mississippi Bar 643 North State Street P.O. Box 2168 Jackson Mississippi 39225. Telephone 601 948-4471. Publication of advertising does not imply endorsement of products services or statements made concerning them. All advertising copy is subject to approval. The Editor reserves the right to reject advertising. Manuscripts are welcome and preparation instructions may be obtained on request. The right is reserved to select materials to be published. Material accepted for publication becomes property of The Mississippi Bar. Statement of opinions appearing herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily that of the Editor Officers or Board of Commissioners of The Mississippi Bar. Features Focus Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program By Chip Glaze 10-13 Mindfulness for Attorneys By Dr. Alexis Polles 14-16 Perspectives from Mississippi Lawyers 18-27 Addiction and Treatment in a Professional Population By Dr. Jay A. Weiss 30-33 How It Works A Judges Perspective By Judge James B. Persons 34-36 LJAP Works The Chief Justices Perspective By Chief Justice William L. Waller Jr. 37 Departments Presidents Message 7-8 MB YLD Election Results 28 Final Disciplinary Actions 29 Young Lawyers Division News 39 High School Mock Trial Competition 40-43 Evelyn Gandy Lecture Series Highlights 44-46 Mississippi Lawyer Legislators 48-49 In Memoriam 50 CLE Calendar of Events 51 Professional Announcements 52-53 Classified Advertising 54 The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 7 Roy D. Campbell III President of The Mississippi Bar 2015-2016Continued on next page Confidential Professional Assistance for Lawyers and Judges T his issue of The Mississippi Lawyer is dedicated to the Bars Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program or LJAP. There is something here for all of us. Substance abuse and mental health issues are a growing problem for our pro- fession. The topic at the last meeting of the Charles Clark Inn of Court was The Epidemic of Lawyers Depression Substance Abuse Disorders. Addiction or mental illness is involved in fifty to seventy-five percent of lawyer discipline matters. Last year in Mississippi seven lawyers committed suicide. And while research shows that addiction and depression rates are far higher among lawyers than in the general population we have spouses children staff and friends who suffer. If you think you know no one affected remove your head from the sand. There was a time when discipline for impaired lawyers was both swift and severe. Revealing even their identities jeopardized the hard-earned reputations and livelihoods of lawyers and certainly of judges. Worse still those willing to seek help and risk the consequences of exposure had no professional safe haven. Fortunately those days are long gone. LJAP provides confidential help individually to judges lawyers and law students who may have substance abuse or mental health problems. The pro- gram also monitors and provides aftercare services. It arranges and implements formal interventions for your partners who need help but refuse to acknowledge it. And for all of that participants are charged not one dime. Chip Glaze is LJAPs Director. Chip is a lawyer a licensed therapist and a recovering alcoholic. Chip approved that message. Chip has walked the walk. His experience personally and professionally in behavioral health counseling family therapy and crisis interventions is deep. He is a superb resource. If the help you need is nothing more than an opinion on the location of an AA meeting that best suits your needs call him. If you want to know about the reliability of a treatment facility for your child call him. And certainly if you think you are finally ready to admit that you have an addiction problem call him. He even lists his cell number on the Bars website. Take full advantage of his consider- able knowledge and grace. 8 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Confidential Professional Assistance for Lawyers and Judges LJAP is serious about its commitment to confidentiality. The identity of any lawyer judge or family member who requests assistance through the program for themselves or others is kept absolutely confi- dential. LJAP is neither a disciplinary nor a reporting agency. If you are applying to take the bar exam and you request help you will not be reported to the Board of Bar Admissions. If you are practicing law and you request help you will not be reported to the Office of General Counsel. If you are on the bench and request help you will not be reported to the Commission on Judicial Performance. LJAP has nothing to do with discipline or punishment. It has everything to do with help. So if the need arises for you or for someone you care about use LJAP. Its private its effective and its free. And speaking of assistance programs for lawyers and judges a week of rest and relaxation is planned for you the week of July 11-16 at Sandestin beginning with three days of CLE in the Summer School for Lawyers followed by the Convention. Mark your calendars and look for the official registration forms in a few more weeks. Between now and then plenty else is happening including the Mississippi Bar Foundations Annual Dinner Meeting and Fellows Induction Ceremony on April 14 at the Old Capitol Inn and the Spring Bar Admissions Ceremony on April 28 at the Supreme Court Building followed by the Spring Social at River Hills Club hosted by CABA JYL and the Litigation Section of the Bar. And speaking of saving dates mark your calendars eighteen months from now on September 26-28 2017. A celebration will be held then of the 200th anniversary of Mississippis judicial branch of gov- ernment and the legal profession. Chief Justice John Roberts will be here and a banquet will be held Wednesday evening September 27. Larry Houchins Melanie Henry and everyone else at the Bar continue the hard work that makes all of this possible. Contact them or me--preferably them--for whatever you need and cannot find on the website. LAWYERS JUDGES ASSISTANCE PROGRAM C O N T A C T U S For confidential help call the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program at 1.800.593.9777 You can also visit our website Lawyers Assistance Program link on The Mississippi Bar website www.msbar.org The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 9 10 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 11 By Chip Glaze Director The Mississippi Bar Lawyers Judges Assistance Program Q Chip how long have you been at LJAP A Ive been the LJAP Director for five years now having served previously as its first Katrina Outreach Coordinator and as Clinical Director for five years previous. The time period feels like a lifetime and yet seems to have passed in a flash. I guess thats because our work is so chaotic and fast paced that at times it seems well be overwhelmed. Then we see the process work in attorneys lives so its simply incredible. Paraphrasing the Peace Corps advertising tagline I can honestly and enthusiastically say that it is the toughest job Ive ever loved. Having previously worked in several areas of the mental health field and practiced law Id never found passion in the work I did. I had some great jobs but at LJAP Ive found my vocation my calling. Q Why do you like this type of work A Ive always felt most at home work- ing with individuals and families trying to find what most would call recovery from the perilous chaos of addiction the insidious grip of depression or just the unmanageability of life. Even before I found my way into my own recovery from alcoholism I was always most comfort- able trying to assist others in that place of crisis. At LJAP I am afforded a unique opportunity to consult to intervene in some cases and to walk alongside those in desperate need. For this opportunity I am humbly grateful. Q What is LJAP A Let me emphatically say that LJAP is NOT not by a long shot. I am the Program Director but all that LJAP does would not be possible without the Bars support the incredible work of our Office Administrator and Monitoring Coordinator Carolyn Barrett and most importantly the tireless service of dedicated LJAP volunteers. These selfless men and women those who have served before them and those yet to serve are LJAPs heartbeat. The connec- tion one lawyer to another in individual and group meetings by phone or email or in service to those still suffering this is where recovery of any sort finds growth. The connection to the healing power of healthy recovery community saves lives and LJAP affords that in so many mean- ingful ways. Q Give us a brief history. A At its inception what we now call LJAP was an all-volunteer group most of them attorneys who were themselves in recovery from alcoholism. These men and women set out to help others who were still struggling in addiction. As early as 1974 lawyers like Joshua Green Julian P. Alexander Jr. and Kenneth Franks were helping lawyers afflicted with the illness of addiction get help for their ill- ness. On December 10 1982 a group of lawyers met with Dr. Doyle Smith of the Impaired Doctors Program to discuss the problem and what if anything the Bar might do about the problem. The com- mittee members were Virgil Gillespie Chairman Gulfport William Griffin Greenville Kenneth I. Franks Jackson Daniel P. Self Jr. Meridian Leonard A. Blackwell II Gulfport Burwell B. McClendon Jr. Jackson and William E. Wilroy Jr. Hernando. In FY 82-83 the first Impaired Lawyers Committee was appointed as an Ad hoc Committee of The Mississippi Bar. In 1990 a part-time Director position was created and Helen Ridgeway was hired. At the end of Ms. Ridgeways tenure Elizabeth de Gruy Rives was hired as the programs sec- ond part-time director. In 1993 the third Focus... Lawyers Judges Assistance Program Continued on next page 12 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Focus... Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program Director Betty Daugherty was hired. In 1994 the program became a full-time program and a Standing Committee of the Bar. In 1995 Charles Dunn led the LJAP in securing a rule change to include lawyers suffering with depression to be served by the program. The current LJAP is authorized to establish a program of evaluation intervention treatment moni- toring and assistance for attorneys who suffer from chemical dependence or from physical emotional or mental disabilities that result from disease disorder trauma or age and which impairs or tends to impair their ability to practice and their professional conduct. Mississippis LJAP is one of the oldest and most established programs in the country handling on average 100-120 new referrals per year. The forgoing brief history sets the stage logistically for LJAP as we know it today but the underlying stories of recovery and the growing community of lawyers caring one for another - these are the heartbeat of LJAP. These are the elements which bring us together in the Spring for our annual Camp LJAP retreat which fuels tireless volunteers to take yet another call to help with an attorney in need and inspires giving back paying it forward in nearly every way imaginable. Q How did things change in 2015 A A Quantum Leap - On January 15 2015 the Supreme Court of Mississippi issued an Order establishing The Mississippi Bars Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program as an entity separate from the Courts disciplinary agents. The Court also issued Rules governing the operations of the program. Assistance through the program under these Rules remains confidential and voluntary. The Rules may be viewed at httpcourts. ms.govrulesmsrules.html The Supreme Courts Order marks a giant step forward for LJAP. The pro- gram staff and volunteers are extremely excited about the new possibilities ahead. Recent years have seen marked increases in recognition of program as a viable resource and confidence in its services and support. Q What are your services A Presently LJAP offers the following services Education Confidential assessment and consultation and intervention Referral and facilitation of admission for treatment services Volunteer supportassistance Lawyers in Recovery 12-Step groups Therapist facilitated Lawyer Support Groups and Ongoing case management and monitoring services In addition to our usual work LJAP is attempting to look ahead toward what will be necessary to further develop and grow our services. We are attempting to broaden our fundraising capability as we frequently assist attorneys financially in obtaining treatment. We are consult- ing with the Lawyers in Transition Task Force looking at how we might best serve attorneys who need to make a tran- sition in their practice or to retire. The most recent data on the preva- lence of impairment in the legal profes- sion was published in February 2016 in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. A nationwide sample of 12825 licensed employed attorneys completed surveys assessing alcohol use drug use and symptoms of depression anxiety and stress. This study in which Mississippi attorneys had an opportunity to par- ticipate was the first of its kind in more than twenty years. The results twenty- one 21 percent of licensed employed attorneys qualify as problem drinkers twenty-eight 28 percent struggle with some level of depression and nineteen 19 percent demonstrate symptoms of anxiety. These results confirm and amplify what we have long known. Since the early 1990s professionals in the treat- ment field have advised that lawyers experience impairment from behavioral health problems at a far greater rate than the general population. The fact that this study is much larger and diverse speaks directly to the need for increased innova- tive services to prevent treat and facili- tate recovery in the legal profession. One in four of our colleagues is strug- gling which means that our entire pro- fession is dealing with them as a whole. Thats why LJAP is here. Q What can LJAP do A LJAP is here to provide education and resources about impairment particularly as manifested in the practice of law to offer assessment consultation intervention and referral services to attorneys in need of assistance to provide follow up and monitoring services as attorneys enter a life of recovery and to provide a supportive community where attorneys can find support feedback accountability and con- frontation in safe environments The services of the LJAP are vol- untary confidential and available at no charge to all attorneys judges law students and graduates in Mississippi. Q Should You Call LJAP A YES If you believe that you or someone you know needs assistance you should call. If an attorney in your Court or in your community appears to be hav- ing problems you should call. If youre concerned but not sure you should call. If you have a general question related to impairment you should call. Its YOUR LJAP and we look forward to being of service. The Mississippi Bar Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program 1-800-593-9777 The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 13 Lawyer suicide is an issue about which weve seen growing nation- al concern in recent years. We in Mississippi are not immune. In FY 2014-2015 seven Mississippi lawyers ended their own lives. It is disheart- ening to even write that but the good news is that your LJAP is pushing hard to equip our colleagues with the necessary tools to save lives that might otherwise be tragically lost to suicide. QPR is a suicide prevention gatekeeper train- ing program. A gatekeeper is someone in a position to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide. Most of us are familiar with CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation - the emergency proce- dure performed in an effort to manu- ally preserve intact brain function in a person who is in cardiac arrest. Stated most simply QPR is CPR for the psyche. Its an intervention designed to interrupt the deadly progression of a person in a suicidal crisis. In my opinion the most impor- tant aspect of the QPR training is the fact that were talking about suicide. Though much more progress is needed our society has become increasingly open to dialogue on formerly taboo topics in recent years sexuality mental health and addiction sexual abuse and domestic violence. Suicide seems to be among the last. Frank discussion of it is absolutely key to saving lives. Im grateful that The Mississippi Bar has afforded LJAP the opportunity to undertake such dialogue and Id like to provide a thumbnail sketch of QPR training. In QPR training one of our first and most important tasks is to confront long standing misconceptions about suicide. We want to be clear about what we know to be true and what fal- lacies have guided our action or inac- tion. Among the myths we attack head on are these Suicide is actually the most prevent- able cause of death. Most people who commit suicide are dealing with sig- nificant life crises or a highly treatable mental illnesses. If they can be brought safely past the crisis and obtain proper mental health treatment and support they will likely not be suicidal again. I frequently tell groups in our train- ing that I will concede that once the act itself is undertaken little or noth- ing can be done by a layperson BUT UNTIL THAT POINT EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE. We are after all lawyers trained to assess and persuade. Asking someone directly about sui- cidal intent lowers anxiety opens up communication and lowers the risk of an impulsive act. The longstand- ing misconception that asking about suicidal ideation or intent will actually cause the person to commit suicide is dangerously false. . Anyone can help prevent this trag- edy. Awareness willingness to act and basic skills can in nearly all cases save a life. Suicide prevention is everyones business. This one is very tough especial- ly for those of us who have been around suicides and their aftermath. However the truth is that most people communicate their suicidal intent in the daysweeks prior to the act. There are signs. We simply need to know and recognize them. The next step in QPR training is to identify signs that a person may be contemplating suicide. These are some of the most common signs Common behavioral signs Threats of suicide direct or veiled Putting personal affairs in order or giving away prized possessions or Extreme and increasing withdrawal and isolation. Situational keys Loss of job or career Loss of any major relationship or Anticipated loss of financial secu- rity or freedom. As weve now done our best to dis- prove dangerous myths and worked to identify the signs of possible suicidal- ity we move to training in the QPR method itself. Question. First and foremost THE QUESTION. We strongly encourage gatekeepers to ask THE QUESTION directly. While the idea is initially very daunting the most effective way to intervene is to ask directly Are you thinking of suicide Obviously theres more to it than a blunt question but it really boils down to this first and most important step. Persuade. If the person confides that they are in fact thinking about sui- cide we want to move quickly into the process of persuading them to accept help as opposed to following through on their ideation. People in deep crisis or struggling with severe depression may have no belief that they can be helped may have no energy to seek a solution and may be unable to ascer- tain what is necessary. Our persua- sion must be informed by these facts. Merely suggesting help will not likely suffice. The person in crisis will prob- ably need our support and leadership to take the steps required. Refer. All of the forgoing brings us to referral. Having intervened and pos- sibly saved a life we need to do every- thing in our power to get our friend the professional help he or she needs. This step requires some homework. As gatekeepers we must know what resources are available. Its best if we can work as part of a team committed to this process. Question Persuade Refer. Straight- forward no-nonsense practical train- ing that can save a life. It works. If youre interested in scheduling a QPR training in your area please contact LJAP. Your call could be a first step in saving the life of someone you know. QPR - Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training 14 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Mindfulness For Attorneys By Dr. Alexis Polles The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 15 ay attention Perhaps this brings up memories of your 1st grade teacher in the classroom where new friends and other intrigues were more alluring than reading from your new class book even though it had cool pictures.POr maybe the memory of your law school professor pontificating in your Civil Procedure class comes up or pos- sibly you think of a month ago when your spouse after you spent the day litigating a no-win case for that special client is dis- cussing the behavior of your 13 year old before dinner. However it is actually part of the working definition of one of the most useful practices available today for dealing with all those stressors and more. When Chip Glaze the Director of the MS Bars Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program invited me to contribute a piece on mindfulness to this publication I won- dered why attorneys would be interested in the topic since many lawyers I had worked with were initially neither inter- ested in nor inclined to approaches that seemed a bit too touchy feely. My conjecture was quickly proven wrong as I found about 168000 search engine hits in less than a second with the search words mindfulness for attorneys. I was astounded. Additionally and impressively there were 63 items on the website for the American Bar Association using the searchtermmindfulness.www.american bar.org. This is good news As we are now all aware attorneys are in the top five when various statis- tics are examined regarding suicide rates by occupation. Of course accuracy is questionable regarding actual numbers since suicide is frequently labeled as an accident. This top ranking is also true for depression rates and cases of alcoholism in lawyers. In a personal communication with Chip Glaze he indicated that there were 17 suicides amongst Mississippi attorneys in 2014. The urgency to reduce stress improve emotional regulation improve self-care and experience deep joy for attorneys is apparent. What is mindfulness The short but salient definition is paying attention on purpose in the moment without judg- ment. This sounds simple but it is not easyespeciallyinthebeginning. However sticking with the practice on a regular basis is well worthwhile. Research indi- cates that practicing mindfulness reduces negative emotional states improves posi- tive emotional states improves ratings of the overall quality of life affects the auto- nomic nervous system reducing fight flight freeze responses reduces elevated stress hormones improves the immune systems response increases healthy eat- ing behaviors enhances restful sleep is as beneficial as relapse prevention approach- es in substance use disorders and can greatly benefit those with Attention Deficit Disorder who stick with it through initial frustrations. These frustrations can be reduced in those with attentional prob- lems by limiting the practice to 1 or 2 minutes in the beginning. Continued on next page 16 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Mindfulness For Attorneys Some people expect that mindfulness is synonymous with relaxation but it is not. It is about staying completely present without judgment even in the midst of an acrimonious verbal exchange dissonant sounds or disturbing body sensations including significant pain. According to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging the average adult has 70000 thoughts a min- ute so to pay attention to any identified target seems overwhelming. However as someone who has always found experi- ence to be the greatest teacher this is an invitation for you to do just that. Some would take you to breathing a main- stay for mindfulness practices others to sounds an amazing experience body sensations or other foci. The point of focus needs to be on something that we normally find difficult to stay focused on as your mind typi- cally begins to wander or notices other thoughts that come by. Because you have been able to stay with this article to this point I would like to take you mind- fully into the experience. It will involve a gentle shifting of your attention. One of the main aspects of mindful awareness is becoming aware just noticing when your mind wanders simply noticing non- judgmentally and gently bringing your- self back to your chosen focus. If you slow down and perhaps notice the shapes of the letters in the words you are read- ing or even become aware of the spaces between the words and following punc- tuation marks you will more effectively take in the experience of reading. Again simply bringing your mind back gently when you find yourself out in your yard thinking about when you need to weed the garden. Since much of your work and leisure time involves reading combining that with focused meditation and aware- ness will assist with both learning and stress reduction Notice especially in the beginning that your mind will wander 1000 times. Simply notice without judg- ment and redirect your attention back to the shapes of the letters the spaces and your ease of breathing. An easy introduction to mindfulness practices has been developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs called Mindfulness Coach and is a free down- load for Android and iPhones. The basic mindfulness practices are there and they can be read by you or guided by a reader. Be well and take care of the things you value most your clients your staff your profession your family and your- self though regular mindfulness practice may allow you to shift that order without judgment. ______ Greeson J. 2009. Complementary health practice review. About the author Dr. Alexis Polles is Board Certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. She is an inten- sively trained DBT therapist and is the Medical Director at Milestones at Onsite Workshops a residential trauma treatment unit. She also serves as the part-time Medical Director for the MS Professionals Health Network. 18 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Perspectives from MPerspectives from M The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 19 Mississippi LawyersMississippi Lawyers Continued on next page 20 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Perspectives from MS Lawyers he world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms 1929 T Seven testimonials from Mississippi Bar members. In recovery we share our experience strength and hope. When asked to tell our story the recommended protocol is to tell what it was like what happened and what it is like now. When I tell my story what it was like and what hap- pened usually consume most of my allot- ted hour leaving just minutes to tell what it is like now the most important part. In the few words that I am allowed here I have been asked to write about what happened and what it is like now. However without some sense of what it was like there is just no way to appreciate what followed. So this is what it was like just before I got sober over 18 years ago. In a shockingly short period of time as I approached the age of 40 I went from being a successful respected lawyer mar- ried with a young son to a degenerate gambler in the deadly grip of active alco- holism. Only the adrenalin rush of having more than I could afford at risk on a single turn of the cards gave me any sense of being alive. Like a drug it took placing increasingly larger sums of money at risk to produce the same feeling. Winning or losing meant nothing. It was all about being at risk. The rest of my waking time was about turning it off which took most of a fifth of vodka each day. Darkness gloom and self-loathing filled my days and nights. My connections to family friends and professional colleagues were severed. My marriage crumbled. My family law firm wisely terminated my position after I had refused help. Actually I did agree to go to treatment but after arriving I refused to check in under my real name choosing John Doe instead. I did not understand why they could not treat me as John Doe. Whats the difference I asked. Of course they asked me to leave. The program I would later learn requires rigorous honesty. It never gets better only worse. Out on my own my condition worsened. I gambled and drank my way through the funds used to buy out my interest in the firm. Good people some who were law- yers in recovery offered help. Like a bird dog caught in a fence I bit every hand that reached out to free me. Even though I knew I needed help another part of me the one I no longer listen to told me if I surrendered then I would instantly sink into insanity from which I would never return. Within a year in a hopeless state I engaged in conduct that would lead to the loss of my license to practice law and my freedom. Believing death was the only logical answer I applied for life insurance then planned my death in such a way that no one could conclude that it was the result of an intentional act. I did not believe I could live through it. In a candid moment with my father I uttered those words. His response saved my life I think. He said Youve got to live through it. Your wife your child your brothers and sisters have to live through it. I have to live through it. What right do you have not to live through it That made sense to me. What seemed to be the only logical fair outcome now seemed unjust. What right did I have to escape consequences leaving loved ones to bear them I finally accepted the help offered by the Mississippi Bars Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program LJAP. At the time I perceived that no one I ever knew or loved would ever want me in their life again. LJAP which I had avoided like the plague for over three years was now the only group in the world that wanted anything to do with me. The truth is that I never surrendered I Tell Our Story The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 21 Perspectives from MS Lawyers was overrun. In my mind trying to follow this program carried only the risk that it would not work leading me back to my original solution. The options seemed clear and few. I did not expect happiness or even think that I deserved any. On October 19 1997 having agreed to surrender my marriage custody of my son my freedom and my license to practice law I entered treatment. The program I was asked to follow consists of twelve specific steps which can be grouped under three major headings Trust God Clean House Help Others. In the religion I was raised in they told me what to do. In this program they told me what they did. And this has made all the difference. Some of us are just wired differently. I never thought I would ever practice law again or would even try. However my lifeline continued to be the lawyer assistance programs in Mississippi and Louisiana where I had moved once I was released. In Baton Rouge where I lived and worked they had lawyer recovery groups. My LJAP agreement required that I attend these groups as well as the regular recovery meetings. These lawyers all recovering alcohol- ics or addicts took me in and loved me until I could love myself again. There was nothing in or about my life that these men and women did not know and care deeply about. Not since childhood had I experi- enced such unconditional love. My sponsor who passed two years ago was an elderly silver-haired retired judge. He was gentle and wise. I asked him one day how I who had not stopped drinking short of complete failure could ever help someone stop drinking before they lost everything. He said My son no one is ever so worthless that he cannot at least serve as a bad example. We laughed. I miss him so. Toward the end of my five-year agree- ment with LJAP our former director Betty Daugherty began calling on me to help with impaired lawyers in Mississippi. In that process a desire was born in me to become a lawyer again if for no other reason than to make amends to my pro- fession. As improbable as it seemed the Bar and the Court believed in me and my license was reinstated. I vowed never to disappoint those who gave me a second chance. I also vowed to never say no to LJAP. After returning to my hometown to open a solo practice with the help of another recovering attorney I knew from Louisiana I started a lawyer recovery group just like our group in Baton Rouge. I supported Chip in starting a second recovery group after Katrina dealing with impairment issues broader than substance and alcohol. These two groups meet in my office each week. We have had as many as twenty-three lawyers at one time in the first group and over ten in the Katrina group. Many more have come received what they needed and returned to a successful content life. Sadly some have not made it and some have died. Because of this recovery program my mind body and spirit were restored. All of my important relations were healed. My sons mother married a good person who helped raise my son an exemplary young man who possesses the empathy and intellect of his grandfather. I mar- ried a loving supportive lady and we now have grandchildren to love. Because of this recovery program I am today a better spouse father son brother friend and a much better lawyer. I am blessed and grateful beyond measure. A proverb I read somewhere early in recovery described it perfectly for me If a fish swims up a mountain Stream it will be thrown against the rocks And arrive at the end of its journey battered bruised and exhausted If a fish swims down a mountain Stream it will glide easily around the rocks And arrive at the end of its journey rested and content The Stream does not care which way the fish swims. It took me forty years to hear that les- son. Life simply doesnt care which way I choose to live it. I choose sobriety. Not Supposed to Happen to Me I dont know whats wrong but I know that if I can just get things back to the way they were two years ago this will all be okay. Thats one of the first things I told LJAP Director Chip Glaze when we met. I was no different than many other attorneys Chip meets on a daily basis overwhelmed addicted unemploy- able in denial and grasping for some semblance of control. But I certainly felt different because this was not supposed to happen to me. Me a young female attorney bright and talented privileged to work with a great firm for wonderful people. In my mind I was supposed to be having children making partner buying nice things achieving and succeeding . . . I was not supposed to be desperate. Unable to get out of bed. Always sick. Never where I was supposed to be. A professional who relied upon research and writing skills who found herself no longer able to focus or function or create. Full of drama. Isolated. More often in trouble than not. A liar and manipulator. A drug addict. Continued on next page 22 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer I remember feeling foolish and weak because nice girls werent supposed to become chemically dependent upon prescription pills. Strong women didnt have depression. And if they did then they simply needed to just put their big girl pants on and get it together because just look around at all the people who have way bigger problems than I do and theyre somehow doing just fine. Ignorant as to what life in recovery actu- ally looked like I recall the sheer terror of admitting that I had a problem. At the time I was aware of the stigma associated with substance abuse and thought that recovering addicts were forever marked as different. My mind conjured images of shot-out looking people chain-smoking as they gathered under fluorescent lights and lamented their misfortunes. That or Stepford-esque born again recovering addicts with plastered smiles and empty eyes and manic declarations of Im great Everything is great So great Put simply I thought recovery was a cult and that I would end up losing all of the things that made me me. By Gods grace my options were super-limited and I was saved from my delusions and prevented from screwing up my life even more by attempting to get better on my own. Because heres the reality I am a nice girl and an intelligent super-strong person. I am your mother your daughter your sister and your friend. Addiction and depression didnt care about any of that. And despite what I told Chip get- ting back to the salad days wasnt going to make anything better the change would have to begin within me. LJAP did me a solid and disregarded all of the excuses and justifications to which I so desperately clung. Instead they worked together with the folks at my old firm to whom I am forever grateful and indebted to issue an ultimatum I had to get with the program or else face professional consequences. I entered treatment and quickly learned that for me going back to the way things were in the past would be an impossibility. Somewhere in my substance abuse I had crossed an invisible line that had forever changed my brain chemistry. Therefore I could either choose to give recovery a meaningful shot and try to live in a new way or I could keep doing things my way and alternate between small bouts of maintaining and periods of misery while things continually became worse. When I became truly honest with myself I knew that one pill would never be enough and that if left to my own devices I would be incapable of giving up all mood-altering substances. And so it began. And it wasnt pretty. I felt and was forced to accept powerlessness for the first time when I became aware of the harm I had done to others and realized that there wasnt a damn thing I could do to fix or undo the damage. My words meant nothing I would have to become a living amends. I learned that intelligence is not an attribute in recovery and that the smartest choice to be made was to stop my analysis of what went wrong and to just do what the nice people told me to do. Even if I thought the direction was stupid and pointless. I gained humility and accepted that my addiction was not unique. The same things that worked for thousands of other recovering alcoholics and addicts could and would work for me. I didnt know why things like get- ting into a routine something I used to despise and now rely upon or sharing with a group worked but they did and I gradually became healthier. Before I thought that meditation and other non- narcotic techniques were pointless for me but humbly learned that once I became willing I could do things like relax and sleep and focus and have energy without chemical assistance. Prayer and spirituality became my anchors. I suf- fered a great deal of loss after getting sober but each time I went through grief and fear I was taught that using the right tools I could make it to the other side without the unhealthy coping mecha- nisms I had curated before and during my active addiction. Most importantly I experienced the fellowship of being in a group of recovering alcoholics and addicts. There were many turning points in my recovery but the most crucial and healing might have been realizing the power of sharing a vulnerability with another person and having them say me too. I was not alone. A quick note about depression for people like me who did not or do not understand what the illness involves being depressed does not simply mean being sad all of the time. I told counsel- ors repeatedly that I wasnt depressed I loved my relationships and laughed and had many blessings in my life . . . I had no reason to be depressed so therefore I wasnt. One day someone shared the physical symptoms of depression which include trouble with sleeping waking extreme fatigue loss of focusconcentra- tion etc. . . . all things that I had expe- rienced for years but had attributed to either laziness or being my own worst enemy. If these symptoms sound famil- iar please ask for help and be patient. About a year into recovery when therapy AA and medication fully synced a mir- acle happened. It was as if I had been albeit contentedly running a marathon and mid-way someone removed an air- way obstruction I didnt know existed and then sent me back to running. I did not realize just how hard things had become until they werent anymore and it was life-changing. Burning your life down can be a won- Perspectives from MS Lawyers The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 23 derful thing because as you rebuild it you can choose and reprioritize what you put back in and with whom you choose to spend your time. You can experience freedom from secrets and shame. Today I am calm loving kind and rested. I now participate in my own life. I am fulfilled in my work and am forever grateful for my relationships both old and new. Life in recovery is not full of lamentations or mania . . . the people I have met through LJAP and AA are full of life humor and substance. And just like me they are beautifully scarred. My Double-Life In the summer of 2010 I was work- ing for a law firm in Mississippi. At this point in my life I had been abusing sub- stances for almost 12 years and was fall- ing deeper and deeper into the dark world of addiction. One day I finally concluded that life was simply not worth living any- more. That same day before I could act on my thoughts a partner of the firm I worked for called me into the board room. I thought I had everyone fooled about the double-life I had been leading but upon entering the boardroom it became appar- ent that the subject of the meeting was me. Instantly I knew the jig was up. The partner graciously confronted me about my suspicious behavior. In what seemed like the first time in a long time I was honest about what was going on with me. Without hesitation my intervenor took me to a treatment facility for detoxifica- tion and I was admitted as an inpatient the same day. I could not have imagined at the time that I would be sober from that day to present day more than five years later. I was also unaware that on the same day the partner called the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program LJAP and informed them that he believed I needed help. Thereafter LJAP called me and asked me to contact them. Within a week of finishing detox I called LJAP and scheduled an appointment. I kept that appointment and the LJAP staff asked me to commit to a monitoring contract to maintain accountability and suggested that I be evaluated. Upon being evaluated I first learned that I not only had a substance abuse problem but I also was suffering from an untreated mental illness bi-polar disorder. I must admit that initially it was difficult to accept this diagnosis. Regardless LJAP saw to it that both my mental illness and substance abuse problems were addressed. First I began treating with a mental health professional to address my men- tal illness and working with a therapist on the issues that I was facing and that contributed to my addiction. This process took a great deal of effort acceptance and surrender on my part however after two years everyone was amazed at my prog- ress. In fact at one point my psychiatrist stated that she had never witnessed a case as severe as mine make such a dramatic turnaround. Not even I could believe the astounding positive changes which were occurring in my life. Secondly LJAP recommended that I be treated for my substance abuse and get involved in a twelve step program. Thus I enrolled in a ten 10 week Intensive Perspectives from MS Lawyers Continued on next page POINTS OF DISTINCTION Focused A singular long-term value-driven investment philosophy Rational Thoughtful investment selection Responsive Exceptional client service Committed Our money invested alongside yours Proven History of investment performance Call us at 601-982-4123 www.medleybrown.com 24 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Outpatient Program at Bridge to Recovery in Ridgeland Mississippi. There I began to learn the value of community and was surrounded by supportive people long- ing to see me succeed. I also began to realize that I was not alone. I finished the program and attended aftercare for approximately the next two years. This whole time I was being monitored by a mentor attorney with whom I would meet two to three times monthly to discuss how everything was going. Moreover I was randomly drug tested to maintain my accountability. In short when I arrived on the steps of the Mississippi Bar Center in 2010 I was a sick broken man with no direction in life. LJAP provided me the direction and guidance that I needed to get my life back. Everything I engaged in from the begin- ning of my contract to the end was kept in the highest confidence and was treated with the utmost professionalism. Along this path I have made lifelong friends and have discovered that I am not alone. My life today is better than anything I could have ever dreamed. Through the assis- tance of LJAP I have discovered a way to live a reasonably happy life practicing law. I really do not believe I would have survived if it were not for the efforts of the staff at LJAP. Thank you. Crawling from the Wreckage It always started in late November.The shorter days and the cooler temperatures acted like an unwelcome alarm clock waking an increasing sense of unease and anxiety. In a five-year span I had under- gone two previous bouts of depression each stemming from a personal crisis both of which took place coincidentally or so I thought in late November and early December. It was four years since my last episode and while I had seeming- ly recovered well from both incidents the time of year right around Thanksgiving made me wary. Maybe it was just the end of football season I thought. Or maybe lingering PTSD from law school exams The fall of 2006 brought about the same old symptoms difficulty sleep- ing and getting out of bed generalized anxiety having to force myself to go to work withdrawal from social situations and an inability to make even the sim- plest decisions for work or otherwise. In the past the resolution of my personal crises always led to the resolution of the depression. However this time some- thing was different. There was no crisis. My life personal and professional was good. Why did I feel so bad I continued on not telling anyone not even my wife because I felt sure the situation would get better. It was my typical method of dealing with a problem ignore it until it either goes away or makes you collapse. Eventually my wife began to see the symptoms in me but I assured her that I would soon be better. Its just that time of year I said. One day I had to travel out of town to a mediation that had been scheduled for months. It was a standard mediation and my client really didnt even have that much of a stake in the outcome. However as it went on and nothing was getting accomplished I began to feel a sense of panic. I was sitting by myself in a small room and I gradually began to believe that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Even though I had participated in prob- ably dozens of mediations over the years the jig was finally up. The other lawyers were clearly much more clever than me and they were taking advantage of my total incompetence. I was blowing it. My client had a fool for a lawyer. It was all I could do to prevent a full panic attack. I had to pull over several times on the drive back home. I couldnt face a return to the office so I went home. I knew I had a problem and I had to get help. Somewhere sometime I remember read- ing that The Mississippi Bar had an assis- tance program for lawyers. Well thats probably just for alcoholics and addicts I thought Im neither. However I looked up the program on the Bar website and found the telephone number. Like a boy nervously calling a girl for his first date I called the LJAP program several times and hung up. I finally made the call and got an appointment to see the Director. Making that phone call was one of the most difficult things I had ever done but it was a first step. My wife came home and found me slumped in front of the computer Perspectives from MS Lawyers The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 25 exhausted from just making the phone call. She resolved to go with me the next day and I dont think I could have made it to the LJAP office without her. There we met with the director and she almost immediately recognized what bad shape I was in. I had gone from relatively under control to a virtual breakdown in 24 hours. She told me that I needed to enlist in the LJAP program as soon as possible in order to get the help I needed. At that point I felt that using LJAP would be the end of my legal career. Surely no one would want a lawyer who needed such help. The decision to join up was agonizing. What will people think I will lose my job. I have let everyone around me down. My family and friends will be ashamed of me. I felt like an utter fail- ure. Any decision I made was bound to be wrong. Then at my lowest something happened. I realized I could no longer make rational decisions for myself. Even though I still feared the worst I recog- nized that I needed to let professionals and loved ones start making decisions for me. It was decided that I needed to go as soon as possible to Psycamore an outpa- tient treatment facility. At my initial evaluation at Psycamore everything came crashing down again. What a failure I was. I couldnt even con- trol my own emotions. I began sobbing as I talked to the clinical director and again while taking a battery of tests. No I told her I dont want to commit suicide but I really dont want to keep on living. She was so concerned with me that she called my wife and they discussed immediately putting me in a hospital. When she told me that she thought I should go into the hospital I found enough strength to gather my wits and say no. It was the last time I said no to anything for a long time. I was admitted to Psycamore but then I had to face the ultimate shame telling my employer. I worked for a mid-sized insurance defense firm. It was an excellent place to work without a lot of unnecessary pressure and unusually supportive part- ners. I was fortunate to have a job there. However I knew they would no longer want me once they learned I had to get mental health treatment. I had to find some way to tell them though. I decided it would be easiest on neutral ground. I attended church with one of the partners and the next Sunday I told him every- thing. He was very understanding. From there I met with the Managing Partner who reassured me and told me that my job was not in jeopardy and to do what I needed to take care of myself. Later I was to learn that I wasnt the first person in my firm to use the LJAP program. I entered the Psycamore day program which still allowed me to come in to work a few hours a day. At first I felt very uncomfortable in the program which has multiple classes throughout the day. Most of the other participants were products of a troubled marriage andor spouses of alcoholics. However I soon realized that we were all suffering from the same symptoms no matter the cause. I learned to look honestly at my past and my family history to try and learn why I had prob- lems with depression and anxiety. Most who suffer from depression have a family history and boy did I have a family history depression alcoholism and anxiety problems on all sides. I no longer just ignored my symptoms. I had tried anti-depressants in the past but only on and off. I got on Lexapro and have stayed on it to this day. Xanax helped me with my severe anxiety symptoms and allowed me to get some much-needed sleep. After four weeks I graduated from Psycamore and moved on to the Jackson Lawyers Group. This group meets twice a month and allows lawyers and others in the legal profession recov- ering from addiction or mental health issues to discuss their problems solutions and strategies for work and life. It was at this group that I met the current director of LJAP Chip Glaze who was a great inspiration to me personally and to stay involved in LJAP. It has now been nine years since my last episode of depression. I stay on my medications and try and enjoy my life as much as possible. When late November rolls around I still feel some of the same old symptoms but now with the help of LJAP I have the tools to deal with any recurring bouts of anxiety and depression. Do not be afraid to seek help. Do not be afraid to talk to your family. Do not be afraid to talk to your friends. Do not be afraid to talk to your employer. Do not be afraid to seek professional help. Above all do not be afraid to seek the help of LJAP. They have seen and heard it all and they can help you too. Do not be afraid. Life is too precious for fear. Everybody Needs Somebody I could not consciously acknowledge this until I had been going to my Lawyers In Recovery Meeting for a bit. See I had been living as a sheep in wolfs clothing for so long -- alone wandering fearful -- and I knew if I started crying andor letting go I could never stop and my life would be over. Well I was wrong. I came into my first meeting angry the angriest woman in American angry and convinced nothing would work and no one could help me. Why Because not one person on earth knew I was so broken financially mentally spiritually Perspectives from MS Lawyers LACOSTE ARCHITECT JAY LACOSTE CONSTRUCTION PREMISES LIABILITY 2349 TWIN LAKES CIRCLE 601 981-2853 JACKSON MS 39211 VIVIZODAOL.COM Continued on next page 26 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer and deathly afraid of being found out but I was willing to try anything to stop the fear and pain. Everyone in that first meeting and since signed confidential- ity agreements after all we were lawyers and needed to ensure ourselves that this contract would help keep our stuff from getting out into the community. What I found that first day was enough of a glimmer of hope to return to see what might happen. I discovered I was not the only lawyer broken and fearful and hurt- ing. I left still not fully trusting either the people or the method if indeed there was one. I refused to commit to return the next week for another meeting commitment is something to run from. But I showed up. Week after week I proclaimed I would not commit and still I showed up. When a counselor was suggested I went. When other suggestions were gently made I jumped on them. One day when least expected I found myself participating in the meeting to help others in the room just as they helped me. We laughed and cried and laughed again...and cried again. Honesty was the name of the game honestly shar- ing life experiences the awful the good the really really embarrassing and the bad and feeling the love and acceptance and assistance from all in that room and certain that nothing said in the room got into the community. So I keep coming back to the well- spring of hope the Lawyers In Recovery meetings to my family of choice with whom I do not have to hide who I really am. I am no longer angry my mental physical and spiritual health have vastly improved. The recovery road requires regular maintenance and for me that means my weekly Lawyers In Recovery meeting. In the eight 8 years I have been attending I have seen the positive changes take place. I am passionate about helping all lawyers who suffer. I know I need somebody and I need my meeting. I have committed. The Cart Before the Horse I honestly believed that if I could just get rid of the chronic insomnia the stress anxiety and sense of hopelessness then the feeling of impending doom would lift and I wouldnt need to drink. I didnt real- ize I had the cart before the horse. After all I had faced challenges before and it always seemed that intellect backed by willpower would carry the day. From an early age it had been drilled in to me that I can do anything I set my mind to if I just try hard enough. In law school a speaker from the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program came to one of my classes and talked about how she used to drink beer and smoke pot. I thought to myself This lady is crazy. What is this some kind of a trap Who would admit to that sort of stuff in a professional setting I decided then and there that LJAP was minefield to be avoided at all costs. Around 14 years later after spending a sleepless night in jail and charged with a felony DUI a couple of colleagues made a call to Chip Glaze before helping to arrange an attorney and a bondsman. Two days later Chip came down from Jackson and met me where I was which was in full damage-control mode. I was will- ing to do whatever he wanted me to do in order to stay out of prison and maybe even keep my license to practice. My attitude of was one of You got me. Give me a contract and Ill sign it. Knowing what I now know Ill never drink and drive again. I was surprised when Chip told me that he didnt even bring a contract with him to the meeting. I asked what I should do and he told me to undergo an evaluation for chemical substance dependency and follow their recommendations. I responded that my real problems where insomnia and anxi- ety maybe even a little depression. He recommended a place that could perform a comprehensive evaluation for all of those issues. Chip could see what I couldnt. I didnt drink because of my circumstanc- es. I drank because I was and am an alcoholic. To Chips surprise and mine I actually followed through with his pro- posals. After some drama and in fits and starts I checked into a 12 Step-based inpatient treatment center. Shortly after my arrival I made sure that everyone knew that I was calling the shots. I was only there for 30 days so they had better get to work. Somewhere along the way I quit telling the treatment staff what they needed to do for me and I started doing what they told me to do for myself. I put both feet in a 12 Step program of recovery and I started to experience the blessings of recovery that the program promises. I took the treatment staffs recommen- dations seriously as if my life depended on them because it did and followed through with both the inpatient and out- patient programs that they offered. When the treatment team determined that it was time for me to prepare for my discharge as a patient my counselor and I reached out to Chip again. I needed a written Continuing Care Plan as part of my dis- charge paperwork and the LJAP contract fit the bill very well. I had learned that professionals who complete monitoring contracts after treatment have very high success rates after five years and I want- Perspectives from MS Lawyers An attorney for forty years. Former Navy JAG J.D. With Distinction top 10 of class law review published. Ready to fill all your mediation arbitration and hearing officer needs. No charge for travel time. Weekend dates available. See httpwww.peacemakerLLC.com Preston Bo Rideout The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 27 ed to give myself every advantage. More than three years have passed since that night in jail and Im enjoying a freedom and peace previously unknown to me. The conditions that I thought caused me to drink became manageable once my alcoholism was treated. What Ive learned in the process is a lesson that cant be taught in a classroom. I had to quit fighting a losing battle that I could not win on my own. I had to surrender in order to win. Volunteering A Way to Help Several years ago I saw a request in an email from the Mississippi Bar for volunteers to help with the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program. Because I had never been active in organized Bar activities and was looking for a way to be involved I volunteered. Even though I am not in recovery I thought that as a jour- neyman lawyer with more than 35 years as a member of the Bar and after work- ing in private practice a corporate law department legal services and in govern- ment I surely understood the frustration loneliness disappointment and doubt that plague even the best lawyers among us and that I could use the empathy I felt for struggling members of the Bar to lift them up if by doing nothing more than being available for a cup of coffee and trying to be a good listener. Once accepted I found a very different role as committee member and monitor. For the most part LJAP is about recover- ing lawyers helping lawyers in recovery. What I found as a committee member and a monitor was a wonderful group of lawyers some of whom have graciously shared painful stories of personal failure and redemption and who are committed to helping each other. From their relation- ships spring mutual affection support and accountability that help return broken lawyers to the ranks of highly ethical compassionate and competent lawyers restoring families and building stronger communities in the process. Being a monitor affords me an oppor- tunity to help recovering lawyers fulfill their commitments to the Bar but when writing this Im reminded of a sticker I recently saw on the back of an SUV while commuting to work. It was in the shape of a dog bone and it simply said Who rescued who Even though Im techni- cally the helper I know in my heart that I am being helped as much as I am helping. I am uplifted by the opportunity to help my fellow lawyers to see broken people made whole to hear their stories of failure and redemption to see the joy and grati- tude in the face of a once suffering spouse whose relationship has been restored in part through the great work of LJAP and staff to learn from recovering lawyers and to know that there is hope for all of us no matter how broken we might be. You can help by donating even a small amount of money to the Mississippi Bar Foundation to be used by the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program to help pay for treatment for your fellow lawyers who are unable to afford treatment. Please make sure to note that the funds are to be used by LJAP for treatment. Perspectives from MS Lawyers ......LL.M. ALABAMA The University of Alabama School of Law online LL.M. concentration in Taxation or Business Transactions AlabamaLLM.ua.edums Online LL.M. degree programs Tax and Business Law Concentrations 28 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer MB Election Results Rick Barry has become President-Elect Designee of The Mississippi Bar. He will assume his elected position during the Bars Annual Meeting in Sandestin in July. W. Briggs Hopson III will assume presidency of the Bar at that time. In addition to the race for President- Elect the following have been certified as newly elected members of the Board of Bar Commissioner. District 3 Post 1 Thad J. Mueller New Albany District 3 Post 2 2 year term Paul B. Watkins Jr. Oxford District 7 Post 1 Karen E. Howell Jackson District 7 Post 2 Brandon C. Jones Jackson District 11 Michael S. Carr Cleveland District 12 Gay Polk-Payton Hattiesburg District 14 Woody Breeland Brookhaven District 16 Christopher J. Latimer Columbus District 19 Jeffrey G. Pierce Lucedale District 20 Post 3 John Robin White Jr. Ridgeland YLD Election Results Rick Barry Meridian MS President-Elect of The Mississippi Bar Bradley M. Reeves Ridgeland MS President-Elect of the Young Lawyers Division Bradley M. Reeves of Ridge- land has been elected to the posi- tion of President-Elect of theYoung Lawyers Division of The Missis- sippi Bar. His term will begin in June of this year. Jenny Tyler Baker of Gulfport will assume duties of President of YLD at that time. Mary Mimi Arthur of Jackson has been elected Secretary of the Young Lawyers Division. Certified to serve on the Young Lawyers Division Board of Directors are the following Central II Catherine Bryant Bell Ridgeland Coastal I Katie R. Van Camp Gulfport Delta Julianne K. Bailey Indianola East Central J. Ryan Taylor Winona Hinds Post I Lauren O. Lawhorn Jackson Hinds Post II Corrie W. Cockrell Jackson Hinds Post III Ashley L. Hendricks Jackson North West E. Russell McNees Oxford South East Matthew D. Shoemaker Hattiesburg The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 29 Suspensions Donald Jason Embry of Long Beach Mississippi A Complaint Tribunal appointed by the Supreme Court of Mississippi entered a Default Judgment and issued a three 3 year suspen- sion from the practice of law in Cause No. 2015-B-447 for violations of Rules 1.2a 1.3 1.4a 1.5a 1.15a 1.16d 8.1b and 8.4a and d of the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct MRPC. Mr. Embry was hired to represent a cli- ent in an appeal of a DUI II convic- tion to the County Court of Harrison County Mississippi. Mr. Embry entered his appearance in the appeal. However Mr. Embry failed to advise the client of the court date for the trial. As a result neither the client nor Mr. Embry appeared for the trial and the judge issued a writ of procedendo. The client was placed in jail. The client was then forced to hire another lawyer to file a petition for a writ of habe- as corpus. The new lawyer attempted to retrieve the file from Mr. Embry but Mr. Embry failed or refused to communicate with the client or the new attorney. In essence Mr. Embry abandoned his client. Mr. Embrys contract of representation with the client provided that he would represent him at a rate of 150.00 per hour and charge him for a nonrefundable retainer in the amount of 1500.00. The funds received for the retainer should have been placed in Mr. Embrys lawyer trust account and billed against at the hourly rate. On information and belief Mr. Embry failed to put the retainer funds into his lawyer trust account. Further Mr. Embry did not earn the amount of the fees received for the retainer. On September 2 2014 the Bar sent Mr. Embry a copy of a Bar complaint and a demand for a response. The Bar resent the Bar complaint and demand to Mr. Embry on September 16 2014. On September 30 2014 Mr. Embry sent the Bar a request for additional time to respond to the Bar complaint. In spite of his request for additional time to respond and subse- quent demands for a response Mr. Embry failed to respond to the Bar complaint. In addition to the written demands the Bar unsuccessfully attempted to contact Mr. Embry by telephone to solicit a response. The Bar left messages for Mr. Embry on at least two occasions. On a third occa- sion Mr. Embry initially answered the telephone but disconnected the call upon the Bars disclosure of its identity. Rule 1.2a MRPC provides that a law- yer shall abide by a clients decisions concerning the objectives of representa- tion and shall consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued. Rule 1.3 MRPC provides that a lawyer shall act with reasonable dili- gence and promptness in representing a client. Rule 1.4a MRPC provides that a lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information. Rule 1.5a MRPC requires a lawyers fee to be rea- sonable. Rule 1.15a MRPC which pro- vides that a lawyer shall hold the property of clients and third parties separate from the lawyers own property. The lawyer must identify this other property and safe- guard it. The rule also provides that the lawyer shall maintain complete records of trust account funds for a period of seven years following termination of the repre- sentation. Rule 1.16d MRPC provides that upon termination of representation a lawyer shall take reasonable steps rea- sonably practicable to protect a clients interests such as surrendering papers and property to which the client is entitled. Rule 8.1b MRPC provides that a law- yer shall not fail to disclose a fact neces- sary to correct a misapprehension known by the person to have arisen in the matter or knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand for information by a disciplinary authority. Rule 8.4a and d MRPC provides that it is professional miscon- duct for a lawyer to violate or attempt violate the rules of professional conduct or engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. Ronald D. Michael of Booneville Mississippi A Complaint Tribunal appointed by the Supreme Court of Mississippi issued a three 3 year sus- pension in Cause No. 2015-B-1366 for violations of Rules 1.15a and b and 8.4a and d MRPC. The Bar filed a Bar Complaint at the directionoftheCommitteeonProfessional Responsibility against Mr. Michael based on information received from a Chancery Judge alleging Mr. Michael had taken an attorneys fee in an estate matter without first obtaining approval from the Court. The Court subsequently declined to approve the fee and ordered the funds be returned to the estate. However Mr. Michael had already converted the fee to his own use and was unable to pay the funds back. He subsequently filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Court approved the Chapter 11 plan by which the residual beneficiary in the estate would be paid over an extended period. Mr. Michael considered the fee earned in spite of his knowledge that he would have to return the fees to the estate in the event the Chancery Court failed to subsequently approve the fee. At the time Mr. Michael received the fee from his client he was suffering from depression. The Complaint Tribunal found that there was no intent or selfish motive on the part of Mr. Michael to convert the funds. The Complaint Tribunal also found that since the attorneys fee was subject to the approval of the chancery judge Mr. Michael did not own the funds. As such the funds he received for his attorney fee should have been placed in his lawyer trust account and disbursed after the funds were approved by the Chancery Court. The Complaint Tribunal also noted that Rule 1.15 of the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct MRPC contains no intent element. As such a lawyer may be subject to sanctions for negligently handling funds that rightfully belong to a client or third party. Rule 1.15a MRPC provides that a law- yer shall hold the property of clients and third parties separate from the lawyers own property. Rule 1.15b requires a Mississippi lawyer to promptly deliver funds held by the lawyer for the benefit of a client. Rule 8.4a and d MRPC provides that it is professional miscon- duct for a lawyer to violate or attempt violate the rules of professional conduct or engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. Final Disciplinary Actions 30 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer By Jay A. Weiss M.D. ASAM ABAM The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 31 Addiction and Treatment in a Professional Population his article addresses the high rate of addiction among professionals and outlines successful treatment for licensed professionals. TSource documents include the Ameri- can Society of Addiction Medicine ASAM Principles ofAddiction Medicine Textbook and the American Society of Addiction Medicine overview article pub- lished in April of 2011. Drug and alcohol problems are com- mon within our society and we are not first to have such problems. The great Physicians Hippocrates and Galen in Greek and Roman societies wrote of the symptoms and damage caused by sub- stances. Indian and Chinese Physicians were describing similar problems long before Greece and then Rome emerged as civilizations. Our own history records a significant morphine problem after our civil war in the mid-1860s and by the early 1900s we had even more significant problems with over-the-counter heroin and cocaine. We were sufficiently con- cerned as a society to pass the Harrison act in 1916. This act placed a Physician with prescribing authority in between the consumer and the provider of addictive and dangerous substances. We were also sufficiently concerned with a nationwide alcohol problem to pass the 18th amend- ment to our constitution prohibition in 1918. We then repealed it in 1933 after Continued on next page 32 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Addiction and Treatment in a Professional Population we discovered a number of unintended consequences and decided to live with the damage caused by alcohol as opposed to damage caused by the consequences. Addiction problems are widespread they know no social boundaries and they include a high cost to society and high mortality rates. There is no quick recov- ery from an addiction problem. Such problems follow a chronic disease model requiring lifelong management and moni- toring. All addictive substances affect and stimulate a very primitive part of the brain called the limbic system. This area lies just above the spinal cord and con- trols survival mechanisms such as thirst hunger and fear. Adjacent areas control the fight or flight mechanism and reward mechanisms. This area of the brain is present in all animals and necessary for survival. Addictive substances convince this area of the brain that it must have more of the drug in question as a matter of survival. Addictive substances also simul- taneously shut down the higher areas of the brain that control judgment executive function and a sense of right and wrong. The main neurotransmitter involved in all addictive substances is dopamine and this is also the main neurotransmitter involved in schizophrenia. All addictive substances increase the secretion of dopamine in the brain and an excess of dopamine is well known as an important factor in schizo- phrenia. All antipsychotics decrease the level of dopamine available to the brain. It should therefore come as no surprise that addictive behavior can look a lot of like schizophrenia with attendant poor judgment paranoia and impaired reality testing. It should also come as no surprise that addictive substances can cause some very intelligent people to do some very stupid and dangerous things. We as professionals are not immune from medical illnesses including addic- tions. We have a higher than average rate of addiction due to the higher levels of stress to which we are subjected. Our addiction rates must be seen within the context of significant long term drug problems within our society including an accelerating rate of prescription drug addiction. Fortunately we also have a high rate of success in treatment of addic- tions and availability of professional health programs like the Mississippi Bars Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program LJAP. A Professional Health Program has dual roles of enhancing public safety and assisting with rehabilitation and re- entry to practice of licensed profession- als with potentially impairing medical conditions including addiction. The Bars LJAP provides a confidential opportunity for its professionals to access compre- hensive and well supervised evaluation treatment aftercare and monitoring. It provides an alternative to severe licensing and disciplinary action with emphasis on rehabilitation and accountability carefully facilitated and documented over time. Professional populations including Attorneys Judges Physicians Nurses Pharmacists Dentists Accountants Engineers and others too numerous to mention all share a number of important characteristics. These include lengthy pro- fessional training a body of knowledge unique to the profession service to the public a fiduciary responsibility to the public and licensing boards which moni- tor professional performance throughout the professionals career. Professionals are held to a higher standard of educa- tion and behavior than the average citizen and live under much greater scrutiny. Professionals must master a large data- base of information which must then be applied in a high pressure environment requiring superior powers of observation judgment and executive function in a dynamic environment where the price for a mistake is very high. A universal policy among professional licensing organizations is prohibition of alcohol or controlled medications from legal or illegal sources while practic- ing the profession due to the potential for significant impairment and resultant erosion of performance. Side effects are variable and unpredictable but the dan- ger to the public greatly outweighs any possible benefit to the individual profes- sional from consumption of impairing substances while practicing the profes- sion. Important side effects often seen with controlled substances or alcohol The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 33 include dizziness drowsiness insomnia vomiting anxiety blurred vision confu- sion decreased attention mood swings impaired executive function impaired judgment slurred speech and delirium. Any of these are incompatible with a safe practice of a profession. Professional licensing organizations in the 1950s would typically suspend or permanently revoke the professional license of a professional identified with a drug or alcohol problem. These prob- lems were considered moral ethical and legal problems at the time. This punitive policy had the unintended consequence of sweeping a huge problem under the rug and out of sight. Professionals were understandably reluctant to self-report and fellow professionals were reluctant to report a colleague despite clear knowl- edge of a problem. Professional monitor- ing programs were developed over the subsequent 20 years to provide an alter- native pathway involving identification evaluation treatment and aftercare with monitoring and random drug screens. The American Medical Association approved this policy for Physicians in 1974 and almost every state in our country now has a Physicians Health Program very similar to the LJAP in organization and mission. Licensing organizations such as Supreme Courts and Medical Boards as well as Nursing Boards and Pharmacy Boards now offer evaluation treatment and moni- toring as an alternative to licensing action and expulsion from the profession. Key to this change is the recognition of addiction as a chronic disease rather than a moral or ethical problem. The chronic disease model of addiction holds that addiction must be managed over a lifetime not cured in a short period of time. Like asthma hypertension or dia- betes addiction tends to recur without proper treatment and long-term manage- ment. Proper treatment for this long-term problem involves identification inter- vention detoxification treatment and a strong post-treatment monitoring pro- gram to include accountability and super- vision. LJAP endorses all of these well- established and research validated criteria for an effective treatment program. An attorney who volunteers for LJAP and complies with LJAP requirements has a very good chance of obtaining success- ful treatment for his addiction and that in turn may help facilitate a return to the safe practice of law with the full blessing of his Supreme Court provided that the attorney has not caused substantial harm to the public or the profession. Two generations of experience with similar PHP support a high probability of success in a professional population. LJAP in particular works closely with the affected attorney to identify and evaluate the problem intervene early detoxify if necessary treat with appropriate inpa- tient or outpatient programs and engage in aftercare including close monitoring and accountability to ensure sobriety and prevent relapse. A similar program for Physicians in Washington State with 90 days of inpatient treatment at a good facil- ity followed by PHP monitoring resulted in 80-95 sobriety at one year 85 continuous sobriety with 5 years of moni- toring and 85 continuous sobriety with 10 years of monitoring. By contrast a 30 day inpatient treatment with no follow-up yielded in 80 relapse rate at one year in this population. The effectiveness of a 90 day inpa- tient program should sound familiar to all of those with professional or military training because we learn best in 90 day increments. It takes about 90 days to internalize a new body of knowledge and a new set of behaviors. Military basic training across cultures and across time takes about 90 days to turn a young civil- ian into a soldier. A standard semester in high school college or professional train- ing takes a minimum of about 3 months. One does not master Constitutional Law or Gross Anatomy by reading a textbook in one evening and taking a test the next day. Virtually all studies of rehabilitation have shown that the patient who stays in treatment longer and attends the most treatment sessions obtains the best post- treatment outcomes. Length of stay is a robust positive predictor of treatment outcome as are intensity of treatment supervision length of monitoring and accountability after treatment. The FAA another licensing organi- zation with stringent policies regarding drug and alcohol impairment in profes- sional pilots has a program remarkably similar to LJAP designed to treat impaired pilots and return them to flying. The FAA program also involves identifica- tion evaluation treatment and after treat- ment monitoring. The program involves testing monitoring accountability and consequences if a pilot identified with a prior substance problem returns to the use of substances. The program also involves return to flying duties with the blessing of FAA if the pilot complies with a moni- toring program obtains treatment and remains sober. In conclusion the overwhelming body of evidence we have today indicates that a professional population benefits from programs like LJAP to identify and treat addicted professionals and return them to practice as quickly and safely as possible. ______ Jay Weiss MD is a graduate of University of Arkansas College of Medicine. He completed his residency in Psychiatry while serving in the United States Air Force for a total of 30 years. Dr. Weiss is ASAM certified 2005 and is board certified in Geriatrics 1994 AddictionsSubstance Abuse 1995 and Psychiatry 1991. He is a member of both the AMA and APA associations. His speaking engagements include the FAA conference on Aviation Psychiatry USAF on Combat Psychiatry and Celestial Navigation. Dr. Weiss believes that staff interaction on both a professional and personal level makes Palmetto an excep- tional place for treatment. He gives lectures throughout the coun- try. He is affiliated with the FAA. He has been at Palmetto 15 years. Addiction and Treatment in a Professional Population It takes about 90 days to internalize a new body of knowledge and a new set of behaviors. 34 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 35 n thirteen years as Chancellor for Harrison Hancock and Stone Counties I have witnessed first-hand the highs and the lows of life in both the courtroom and more broadly in our societys view of our chosen profession. I By Judge James B. Persons The great pride I have felt watching skilled impassioned practitioners giving their best for their clients and ultimately to our system of justice has unfortu- nately been rattled at times with news that leaves no room for doubt that some of these same very capable and extremely competent lawyers have fallen victim to alcoholism drug addiction depression and similar afflictions the results of which are often tragic. Clients suffer careers are ruined families are destroyed public per- ception and confidence in lawyers and the legal system are tarnished and for some their lives are cut short. I am pleased to be able to say from personal experience that The Mississippi Bars Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program or LJAP as it is known is a bea- con of light and change in this otherwise dark side of our profession. Let me tell you how I see the problem and how LJAP is helping to address it. LJAP is comprised of volunteers throughout the state who are ready to assist judges like myself in providing help to lawyers who are in need. Many but not all of them are in recovery themselves. They have been where that lawyer who is currently suffering is and they have been able to crawl out of the grip of addiction and become productive lawyers again. They are a credit to our bar association. Because of them LJAP is one of the strongest and most active lawyer assistance programs in this country. The process or procedure for a judge such as myself to utilize the services of LJAP is relatively simple. If I have concerns about a lawyers physical or mental health or if other judges or lawyers have expressed similar concerns to me I contact either a local LJAP committee member or Chip Glaze the Director of LJAP. From that point they take it. First committee members and Chip do a discreet and confidential investigation by interviewing colleagues of the troubled lawyer or his family and close friends to insure that the concerns being expressed are substantiated. Not all reports prove to be serious. But all reports are taken seriously. In some instances a lawyer may simply be going through some temporary difficulty but no significant treatment is required. However there are cases where a lawyer needs help and is either scared of losing his or her license or their career and is unwilling or unable to ask for the help necessary. This is the instance where judges can prove to be a valuable tool. If private efforts by LJAP prove unsuccessful or if there is a lawyer who is so seriously impaired and immediate attention is required LJAP will coordinate an intervention in which I participate. Usually this involves requesting that the lawyer in need of help appear in my cham- bers to privately discuss an undisclosed matter. Committee members of LJAP are present. Family members friends or law partners may be invited if needed. Before the impaired lawyer arrives LJAP has made initial assessments as to his or her condition and what help is most needed at the time. They have also made contacts with appropriate rehabilitation facilities to help the lawyer get the help he or she needs. My role is to moderate the inter- vention and to confirm that by rule of the Mississippi Supreme Court the LJAP program is confidential and that all alle- Continued on next page 36 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer How It Works A Judges Perspective gations reports and conferences includ- ing the intervention are privileged. The impaired lawyers are frequently adamant and sometimes confrontational in their denials of an addiction. But these deni- als are being made to LJAP members who themselves once made the same denials. The LJAP members share their own per- sonal stories of recovery and reassure the lawyers that they can regain their sobriety and careers as well. In some instances lawyers immediately depart for treatment. In other cases there may be a delay of a day or two. If lawyers accept the help they are directed to the appropriate reha- bilitation facility. After that LJAP assists the Court in insuring that the clients rights are protected. They communicate with the clients regarding the absence of the law- yer in a discreet and confidential manner. They contact opposing counsel and con- tact varying courts to insure that deadlines are not overlooked or that matters that are set can be continued. Once the lawyer returns to practice he or she is monitored by LJAP and more often than not become active in LJAP. The Courts involvement is very minimal. I have worked with LJAP since I first came to the bench. I can tell you that I have seen miracles. Lawyers who once appeared to be losing their practices com- pletely returned to become even better members of our bar. I wish that I could tell you our efforts have always proven successful. Unfortunately that is not the case. However I can tell you that we have tried in every instance to provide an impaired lawyer the help that he or she needs. ______ A graduate of Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi School of Law Judge Jim Persons also received a Master of Laws in taxation degree from New York University. Beginning in 1967 he practiced law in both Jackson and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and was elected to his first term as chancery judge for the 8th Chancery Court District of Mississippi in 2003. He is currently serv- ing his fourth term. Judge Persons has been recognized by colleagues for outstanding legal abil- ity and devotion to the public and profes- sion as a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and is a recipient of the Above and Beyond Award in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the vision and service of The Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program of the Mississippi Bar a program in which he has been actively involved for several years. Judge Persons is married to Kaye J. Persons an attorney and has two grown children. I can tell you that we have tried in every instance to provide an impaired lawyer the help that he or she needs. The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 37 Each year members of The Mississippi Bar pass away from age or illness as is expected. However each year some Mississippi attorneys are tragically lost to suicide or die needlessly in active addic- tion or untreated mental illness. Others may not die but lose their careers their family their health or their freedom due to these same treatable and often prevent- able diseases. As a profession the practice of law can be very taxing even in the best of times. When one tries to balance the expectations and obligations of a law practice with life outside the practice of law the pressures mount even higher. Stress and burnout addiction depression and anxiety and many other troubling issues occur at a significantly higher rate among those in the legal profession than among the general population. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine 21 percent of licensed employed attorneys qualify as problem drinkers 28 percent struggle with some level of depression and 19 percent demonstrate symptoms of anxiety. These are daunting statistics and underscore the importance of hav- ing a highly effective Lawyers Assistance Program working in our state. Fortunately we do. The Mississippi Bar Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program LJAP has been serving Mississippi lawyers judg- es and law students for more than 30 years. During my tenure the Mississippi Supreme Court has had multiple opportu- nities to see the results of LJAPs work. In January 2015 the Mississippi Supreme Court established LJAP as a stand-alone entity with its own set of rules. This step was in response to The Mississippi Bars petition and resulted from the work of the Supreme Court Commission to Address the Concerns of Impaired Lawyers established by my predecessor Chief Justice Jim Smith and chaired by the late Harry Allen. Until that time though it had never operated as such LJAP had been designated as a disciplinary entity. That designation was an impediment to the programs work as lawyers in need of assistance feared con- tact with LJAP could result in bar disci- pline. The LJAP Director has assured me that the programs current position under the Courts Rules has removed a signifi- cant obstacle often faced when trying to assist an attorney in need. It is important that everyone associat- ed with the legal profession in Mississippi knows that LJAPs services are available and that all LJAP matters are strictly confidential by rule. Lawyers and judges are sometimes hesitant to call attention to the troubles experienced by a colleague a friend or a judge before whom they prac- tice. Such hesitancy may come from not wanting to get involved not wanting to add to a colleagues problems from fear of retaliation or any number of other rea- sons. But we cannot ignore the problem that is staring us in the face. To do so only allows these problems to grow sometimes with disastrous consequences. Speak up. Confidentiality protects those people who need help and those who act to make sure they get help. Services are voluntary. An attorney engaged with LJAP at any level can refuse service. Finally it is important to note that LJAPs services are available at no charge. It costs nothing for an attorney or someone who cares about an attorney to access the professional services available at LJAP. In recent years our profession has become increasingly aware of the dev- astating issue of lawyer suicide. In FY 14-15 there were seven attorney suicides in Mississippi. Readers are likely familiar with one or more of these. We are left to wonder what did we miss Did we see the signs Could we have done something to prevent this To combat this troubling issue the LJAP Director has obtained certification to offer gatekeeper suicide prevention trainings. These trainings afford those not previously trained in mental health ser- vice with a no-nonsense effective inter- vention tool to use if confronted with a potential suicidal crisis. The Director has told me on several occasions that he and LJAP volunteers are receiving very positive feedback on the training. More importantly they are being told that the interventions are being used. I would encourage lawyers and judges across the state to try to schedule a training in your area. In this way we can all work toward reducing the risk of this tragedy. As Chief Justice I strongly endorse LJAPs work. I encourage lawyers judg- es and those who care for them to contact the LJAP office or an LJAP volunteer in your area if you have a problem or are concerned for someone you know. All calls to the LJAP office are held in the strictest confidence. I can tell you this not only because of the rules policies and procedures in place I know this to be true based on the Courts experience in mak- ing referrals to or consulting with LJAP. If you believe that you or someone you know needs assistance you should call. If an attorney in your Court or in your com- munity appears to be having problems you should call. If youre concerned but not sure you should call. If you have a general question related to impairment please call 1-800-593-9777. LJAP Works The Chief Justices Perspective By Chief Justice William L. Waller Jr. The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 39 The 2016 year has gotten off to a busy start for the Young Lawyers Division and the winter has been packed full of projects and events both for the commu- nity and for our young lawyers. I want to thank everyone for voting and selecting a great group of incoming officers and directors to serve on the YLD Board for 2016-2017. I know the YLD Board will be in good hands with Brad Reeves as YLD President-Elect and Mimi Arthur as Secretary. Thank you everyone for your willingness to serve The Mississippi Bar and help YLD continue to grow. The High School Mock Trial Com- petition wrapped up on February 27th with Sacred Heart Catholic High School prevailing in the Finals. I was fortunate enough to serve as a judge in the Final Round along with Mississippi Bar Presi- dent Roy Campbell Robert Gibbs Chad Russell and Clarence Webster. The win- ning team will travel to Boise Idaho in May to compete in the National Compe- tition. As always we could not have this competition without the generosity of our attorneys and judges in giving their time to judge the regionals and the statewide competition in January and February. A big thank you to all of our volunteers and a huge congratulations to all participants. We know Sacred Heart will make us proud in Idaho On December 10 2015 an additional 34 lawyers were sworn in at a ceremony held at the Mississippi Supreme Court. The YLD would like to congratulate these new lawyers and welcome them to the bar. This year YLD has concentrated on offering more services for our members. Under the leadership of Clarence Webster Chair of the Seminars Committee the CLE series Practice in a Flash Litiga- tion 101 Series has been very successful. This series is geared towards young law- yers and led by young lawyers and cov- ers the steps of the litigation process from the beginning to end with sessions on case investigation and evaluation depositions and discovery mediation and negotia- tion trial appeals and ethics and civility. The rst four were held on October 1st November 5th December 4th and March 3rd respectively. The appeals CLE will be held on April 7th and the Ethics and Civil- ity CLE will be held on May 5th. The inaugural Deposition Academy was held on November 12-13 2015 at the Mississippi Bar Center. It was a hugely successful two-day program that provided the 40 attendees with one day of instruc- tion and one day of mock depositions during which program attendees observed accomplished litigators conduct the de- position examination of a Rule 30b6 witness a party and an expert witness. The deposition academy was tailored to provide young lawyers practical and stra- tegic skills and tools for conducting suc- cessful depositions of various parties and witnesses by learning from and observing the deposition techniques of seasoned tri- al attorneys. TheYLD would like to thank the Litigation Division for partnering with us to make this event successful. We look forward to building on our active fall and winter as we head into the spring months. If you would like to be- come more involved with YLD please contact Rene Garner at rgarnermsbar. org or me at dialachaneymsn.com. Diala H. Chaney Young Lawyers Division President 2015-2016 Young Lawyers Division News LITIGATION MEDIATION SUPPORT ON REAL ESTATE ISSUES Real Estate Appraisers Mediation Consultants 100 Years Combined Experience Joe W. Parker MAI CRE Curtis A. Gentry IV MAI Edward W. Dinan MAI CRE Elizabeth S. West MAI CRE J. Neil Parker Services Litigation Support Expert Witness Legal Strategy Mediation and Mediation Support Appraisals Acquisition Disposition Arbitration Alternative Dispute Resolution Asset Management Strategic Positioning Corporate Real Estate Eminent Domain Environmental Government State Municipal Federal Investment Strategy Investment Management Market Studies Site Location Conservation Easements Feasibility Analysis 641 Lakeland East Drive Jackson MS 39232 601-664-2422 1-800-759-1849 Fax 601-664-1605 www.appraisalresearch.net 660 Katherine Drive Jackson MS 39232 601-664-2422 1-800-759-1849 Fax 601-66401605 www.appraisalresearch.net 40 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer LAW-RELATED EDUCATION 2016 Mississippi High Sch Sacred Heart Catholic School Team 1 displays the First Place gavel they were awarded during the 33rd Annual High School Mock Trial Competition. Pictured left to right with their attorney coach Don Hinton teacher sponsor Paul VanZandt and attorney coach Carey Varnado. The final round judges included left to right Robert Gibbs who has judged the final round for 25 years served as the presiding judge Chad Russell Past President of the Young Lawyers Division and Past Chair of the Mock Trial Competition Diala Chaney President of theYoung Lawyers Division of The Mississippi Bar Clarence Webster Past Chair of the Mock Trial Competition and Roy Campbell President of The Mississippi Bar. O n Saturday February 27 in the Hinds County Courthouse Sacred Heart Catholic School Team 1 finished in first place at the 2016 Mississippi High School Statewide Mock Trial Competition and will represent Mississippi in the 2016 National High School Mock Trial Competition on May 12-14 in Boise Idaho. Distinguished members of the Bar judged the statewide final round. These judges included Diala Chaney President of the Young Lawyers Division of The Mississippi Bar Roy Campbell President of The Mississippi Bar Chad Russell Past President of the Young Lawyers Division and Past Chair of the Mock Trial Competition Clarence Webster Past Chair of the Mock Trial Competition and Robert Gibbs who has judged the final round for 25 years served as the presiding judge. Twenty-seven teams from around the state participated in three regional competitions which were held in January in Jackson Gulfport and Oxford. From those teams 16 teams advanced to the statewide competition held on February 26 - February 27 at the Hinds County Courthouse and Chancery Courthouse in Jackson. MSMS Team 1 earned the second place trophy gavel coached by Scott Colom. The following schools earned the remainder of the top six positions Madison Central third place coached by Rogen Chhabra and Staci ONeal MSMS Team 2 fourth place coached by Scott Colom St. Patrick Catholic High School fifth place coached by Judge Jennifer Schloegel and Elena Guida and Lamar School sixth place coached by Kathryn McNair and Amanda Glover Evans. A special thanks to all of the attorney coaches and judges who volun- teered their valuable time to help with this Young Lawyers Division law related education program in its 33rd year. The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 41 UPDATE ool Mock Trial Competition 42 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Mississippi Attorneys Who Served As Team Coaches During The Mississippi 2016 High School Mock Trial Competition David Harris..................................................................... Biloxi Biloxi High School John A. Meynardie........................................................... Biloxi Biloxi High School Judge James K. McDaniel ...........................................Brandon Brandon High School Carlisle Henderson..................................................Brookhaven Brookhaven High School Oliver E. Clark Jr. ................................................... Clarksdale Clarksdale High School Arthur H. Calderon....................................................Cleveland Cleveland High School Michael S. Carr..........................................................Cleveland Cleveland High School Milton Carroll McCardle......................................... Hazlehurst Copiah Educational Foundation Price D. Henley........................................................ Hazlehurst Copiah Educational Foundation Arnold U. Luciano .....................................................Cleveland East Side High School Jamie F. Jacks.............................................................Cleveland East Side High School Walter J. Brand..............................................................Jackson Jackson Prep Kathryn McNair..........................................................Meridian Lamar School Amanda Glover Evans ................................................Meridian Lamar School Lauren E. Rosenblatt........................................................ Biloxi Long Beach High School Rogen Chhabra..............................................................Jackson Madison Central Staci A. ONeal............................................................Madison Madison Central Meagan O. Linton.......................................................Meridian Meridian High School Natalie R. King...........................................................Meridian Meridian High School Scott Colom ...............................................................Columbus MSMS Brad Morris.....................................................................Oxford Oxford High School Keith Pearson ..................................................................Oxford Oxford High School Andrew A. Miri.......................................................Hattiesburg Presbyterian Christian School Kimberly-Joy Lockley ............................................Hattiesburg Presbyterian Christian School Wes Curry ...............................................................Hattiesburg Presbyterian Christian School Kim Duffy..................................................................... Gautier Resurrection Catholic School Stephen W. Burrow ................................................. Pascagoula Resurrection Catholic School Carey R. Varnado....................................................Hattiesburg Sacred Heart Catholic School Don Hinton .............................................................Hattiesburg Sacred Heart Catholic School Abram Orlansky............................................................Jackson St. Andrews Episcopal School Bradford J. Blackmon....................................................Canton St. Andrews Episcopal School Elena Guida..................................................................Gulfport St. Patrick Catholic High School Judge Jennifer T. Schloegel .........................................Gulfport St. Patrick Catholic High School The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 43 Special Thanks to Mississippi Attorney Judges for 2016 Statewide Regional Mock Trial Competition T he Mississippi Bar Young Lawyers Division would like to thank the following members of The Mississippi Bar for their efforts as attorney judges during the 2016 High School Mock Trial Competition. Regional Judges Jhasmine Andrews ...........Jackson Jenny Baker.....................Gulfport David Baria..............Bay St Louis Grafton Bragg ....................Tupelo Jessica Carr.......................Canton Jennifer Case.........................Pearl Jim Cox.............................Oxford Marcy Croft......................Jackson Richard Davis............... Ridgeland John Dawson...................Gulfport Tommy Defer ...........Water Valley Dan Duggan....................Brandon Bill Eckert.......................Gulfport Jennie Eichelberger..........Jackson Ron Feder..............Ocean Springs David Frazier...............Pascagoula Laura Goodson.................Jackson Mark Herbert ...................Jackson Katie Hester .....................Jackson Joshua Hill ........................Oxford Lora Hunter.......................Oxford Lyndsy Irwin.................. Bentonia Harriett Johnson...............Jackson Robert Jolly..................University Rita Jones........................Choctaw Amy Jordan......................Jackson Mitch Kalom.......................Biloxi John Kavanagh..................Mobile Alison Kelly.....................Jackson Sterling Kidd....................Jackson Parker Kline ..................Aberdeen Phillip Knecht ........ Holly Springs Harry Lane.................Hattiesburg Carina Lewis............Bay St Louis Eddie Littlefield................Oxford Blythe Lollar................ Ridgeland Roger Lott......................... Belden Ashlyn Matthews ..........Starkville Michael McCabe.............Gulfport Kimberly McCray .........Cleveland Megan McGrew ...............Jackson Tami Munsch .........................Kiln Cheryn Netz.....................Jackson Mary Nichols ..................Gulfport Amy Nisbett....................Madison Amanda Proctor...............Jackson Brad Rath............................Biloxi Jeff Rimes .................... Ridgeland Jim Rosenblatt..................Jackson Karen Sawyer..................Gulfport Bryan Sawyers ................Gulfport Matthew Shoemaker ..Hattiesburg John Smallwood.........Hattiesburg Petesy Smith................. Vicksburg Francis Springer..............Madison Forrest Stringfellow ..........Clinton Michael Tarleton .......... Ridgeland Bethany Tarpley ............Batesville Laura Tate.........................Jackson Sumeka Thomas..............Okolona Amanda Tollison...............Oxford Christinia Townsend.... West Point Betsy Turley .....................Jackson Catherine Umberger...........Tupelo Dietrich von Biedenfeld................ West Columbia TX Krystal Walker ..................Oxford Marty Warren..................Gulfport Victoria Washington..........Clinton Lee Watson...................Southaven Christina West.................... Nesbit Josh Wiener.................. Ridgeland Ashley Wright.................Gulfport Jaklyn Wrigley ................Gulfport Spencer Young.................Flowood Statewide Judges Adrienne Aikens ..............Jackson Bob Anderson .................Madison Jhasmine Andrews ...........Jackson Matt Baldridge............. Ridgeland Claire Barker....................Jackson Thomas Bellinder.............Jackson Becky Blunden............. Ridgeland Angela Brooks ...................Tupelo Eric Brown.......................Jackson Michael Brown.................Jackson Tammye Brown................Jackson Roy Campbell ..................Jackson Diala Chaney.....................Oxford Judge M James Chaney Jr ........... Vicksburg Jean Comley.....................Jackson Marcy Croft......................Jackson Lisa Dale..........................Natchez Richard Davis............... Ridgeland Nakimuli Davis-Primer....Jackson Brad Dillard .......................Tupelo Dan Duggan....................Brandon LaVerne Edney ...............Jackson Jennie Eichelberger..........Jackson Wendy Ellard....................Jackson Casey Farmer ...................Jackson David Frazier...............Pascagoula Robert Gibbs....................Jackson Alicia Hall.................... Ridgeland Kye Handy .......................Jackson Macy Hanson ..................Madison Allison Hartman...............Jackson Katie Hester .....................Jackson Lauren Hillery.................Gulfport Lora Hunter.......................Oxford Janice Jackson..................Jackson Harriett Johnson...............Jackson Rita Jones........................Choctaw Robert Jones.....................Jackson Mitch Kalom.......................Biloxi Harry Lane.................Hattiesburg Penny Lawson .............. Vicksburg Will Manuel .....................Jackson Dustin Markham ............Meridian Brooke Martin..................Jackson John Martin.......................Canton Megan McGrew ...............Jackson Mike McPhail ............Hattiesburg Sue Merchant...................Jackson Lance Mixon...................Flowood Mindy Morton...................... Flora Cheryn Netz.....................Jackson Kaytie Pickett...................Jackson Elizabeth Porter..........Hattiesburg Michael Prewitt............Greenville Melvin Priester.................Jackson Jeff Rimes .................... Ridgeland Laura Rose................... Ridgeland Jim Rosenblatt..................Jackson Vicki Rundlett...................Clinton Chad Russell ....................Jackson Matthew Shoemaker ..Hattiesburg Daniella Shorter.......... Hazlehurst Danny Smith ..................McComb Jacqueline Smith............Indianola Petesy Smith................. Vicksburg Adam Spicer ................ Ridgeland Francis Springer..............Madison Forrest Stringfellow ..........Clinton Laura Tate.........................Jackson Toni Terrett................... Vicksburg Ray Therrell .............Mendendhall Betsy Turley .....................Jackson Clarence Webster ............Jackson Keishunna Webster....... Ridgeland Collins Wohner.................Jackson Joel Woodcock .................Jackson Spencer Young.................Flowood Pat Zimmerman................Jackson 44 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer 23rd Annual Evelyn Gandy Lecture Series February 19-20 2016 BancorpSouth Conference Center Tupelo MS Blythe Lollar and Jennie Eichelberger both of Jackson. Judge Donna Barnes of Tupelo and Tiffany Grove of Jackson. Patty Golden of Biloxi Karen Sawyer of Gulfport and Charliene Roemer of Biloxi. Corrie Cockrell and Pelicia Hall both of Jackson. Chair of the WIP Committee Tiffany Graves of Jackson Chair of the 2016 Gandy Lecture Series Alison Goodman of Tupelo and Co-Chair of the Gandy Lecture Series Jenny Tyler Baker of Gulfport. Friday afternoon panel speakers included from left Front Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders Natchez Mary Helen Wall Jackson Justice Ann Lamar Senatobia Judge Donna Barnes Tupelo Judge Deneise Lott Jackson Back Judge Deborah Gambrell Hattiesburg Judge Jacqueline Mask Tupelo Rachel Pierce Waide Tupelo and Abby Brumley Jackson. Judge Betty Sanders of Greenwood and Katherine Kerby of Columbus. Adrienne Aikens of Jackson Allyson Winter of Jackson and Lyndsy Landry Irwin of Bentonia. The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 45 Anna Robbins of New Albany and Brandi Soper of Tupelo. Gina Tompkins of Biloxi and Alison Baker of Gulfport. Carolyn Brown of Starkville Lisa Meggs of Columbus and Julie Brown of Starkville. Judge Jacqueline Mask of Tupelo and Judge Deneise Lott of Jackson. Mayor Jason Shelton of Tupelo and Missis- sippi State Treasurer Lynn Fitch of Jackson. Marie Cope of Oxford and Catherine Servati of Tupelo. Saturday morning panel speakers included from left Judge Allan Alexander Oxford Susanna Moldoveanu Memphis TN Kris Gilliland Oxford and Dean Debbie Bell of Oxford. Chari Lawrence of Hattiesburg and Jessica Ayers of Jackson. Joanie Potter and Felecia Perkins both of Jackson. 46 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer 23rd Annual Evelyn Gandy Lecture Series The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 47 48 Winter 2016 The Mississippi LawyerThe Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 48 Mississippis Lawyer-Legislators Mississippis Lawyer-Legislators Row 1 - Hank Zuber Rob Roberson Barbara Blackmon J. P. Jay Hughes Jr. Jenifer Branning Row 2 - Joey Hood Kevin Horan Adrienne Wooten David Baria Willie Perkins Row 3 - Sally Doty Greg Snowden Jim Beckett Angela Turner Linda Coleman Row 4 - Mark Baker Bryant Clark Kimberly Campbell Brice Wiggins Briggs Hopson Row 5 - Patricia Willis Brad Touchstone Nick Bain Andy Gipson Joey Fillingane Row 6 - Dennis Debar Michael Watson Speaker Philip Gunn Willie Bailey Sean Tindell Not Pictured Earle Banks Ed Blackmon Hob Bryan Angela Cockerham Jarvis Dortch Bob Evans Robert Johnson Trey Lamar Will Longwitz Chris McDaniel Roun McNeal Tommy Reynolds Noah Sanford Derrick Simmons Jeff Smith Gray Tollison Mark Tullos Percy Watson Jason White and Cory Wilson. The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 4949 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer 50 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer Bobbie Joe Blair Bobbie Joe Blair 68 of Memphis TN died January 26 2016. A graduate of the University of Memphis School of Law he was admitted to practice in 1989. Charles Gray Burdick Charles Gray Burdick 71 of Hattiesburg died November 9 2015. A graduate of the University of MS School of Law he was admit- ted to practice in 1971. Burdick spent the majority of his legal career serving as a Mississippi State Prosecutor Assistant District Attorney in seven districts. In addition he taught as adjunct pro- fessor for ten years at the University of Southern Mississippi in Criminal Justice. He also developed a new course in the field of Environmental Law. In 1995 he received the Adjunct Faculty Award in Criminal Justice. He was a member of the American Bar Association Mississippi State Prosecutors Association and South Central Mississippi Bar Association SCMBA. Burdick was a guest lecturer for National College of District Attorneys Mississippi Prosecutors Conference Police Academies Justice Judges Mississippi Department of Transportation and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Training Division. He retired in January 2008. E. Harvey Fitzpatrick Jr. E. Harvey Fitzpatrick Jr. 92 of Natchez died November 26 2015. A graduate of the University of MS School of Law he was admitted to practice in 1950. He was a member of Grace United Methodist Church where he taught Sunday school for 40 years served on the administration board and was a lay reader. Fitzpatrick was a member of the Lions Club and Jaycees for many years. He was a former president of Adams County Bar Association and was vice president of Mississippi State Board of Ethics Committee. Fitzpatrick served in the U. S. Army from 1942 to 1945 as a staff sergeant in headquarters detachment 12th Army in the European Theater. James H. Gabriel James H. Gabriel 67 of Madison died February 4 2016. A graduate of Mississippi College School of Law he was admitted to practice in 1981. Gabriel was a member of Alta Woods Baptist Church serving as a deacon choir member Sunday school teacher and church leader. He was a partner at Pyle Mills Dye and Pittman and served as an attorney for the City of Ridgeland. Gabriel served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 27 years retiring as Colonel. He started in the 2nd MTC and ended in the 2nd Brigade 87th Training Division. John T. Jacks John T. Jacks 69 of Madison died January 24 2016. A graduate of Mississippi College School of Law he was admit- ted to practice in 1973. He served in the Army National Guard for several years. In 1973 he began a nine year private prac- tice in which he was solo and then partnered with others in a firm. From 1979-1982 Jacks held the position of Managing Attorney for the Southwest Legal Services office in Natchez MS. In 1982 he became the newest staff attorney and writer for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. He was promoted to Senior Attorney in 1995. In 2012 Jacks was appointed an Administrative Law Judge in the agency and would remain in that position until his retirement in September. Walter Rayford Jones Walter Rayford Jones 84 of Gulfport died September 18 2015. A graduate of the University of MS School of Law he was admit- ted to practice in 1958. He volunteered for the US Navy in 1951 serving four years on the USS Yorktown. He served as County ProsecutingAttorney for Neshoba CountyYouth Court Counselor for Neshoba County Attorney for the Board of Supervisors of Neshoba County and City Attorney for Gulfport. He served as Special Chancery Court Judge for Neshoba Winston and Attala Counties by appointment from Governor Paul B. Johnson. He was also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Rayford also earned a Mississippi Real Estate Brokers license. Deborah Mary Kazal Deborah Mary Kazal 63 of Pascagoula died May 4 2015. A graduate of the University of Texas School of Law she was admitted to practice in 2008. Kazal had been a professor of economics at Arizona State University as well as the University of Texas at Austin. She was currently a teacher at Resurrection Catholic High School. Alfred E. Moreton III Alfred E. Moreton III 81 of Oxford died January 18 2016. A graduate of the University of MS School of Law he was admitted to practice in 1961. Moreton served in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1956 as a quartermasters mate on the U.S.S. Hawk AMS-17. He was the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi from 1962 to 1963 and 1969 to 2004. He attended Oxford-University United Methodist Church. Peggy C. Newton Peggy C. Newton 71 of Madison died November 30 2015. A graduate of Mississippi College School of Law she was admit- ted to practice in 1988. Newton worked as a pediatric nurse and then taught pediatric nursing at the Mississippi State College for Woman for several years. She then moved to Jackson to work as Associate Director for Higher Education. Beginning in 2003 she served as a federal prosecutor with the United States Attorneys Office. In 2008 she retired. She was a communicant of St. Andrews Episcopal Cathedral serving as a Eucharistic Minister and on the Altar Guild. Peggy was also very active in Cursillo and served on many weekend staffs. Samuel E. Scott Samuel E. Scott 78 of Hazlehurst died November 21 2015. A graduate of the University of MS School of Law he was admit- ted to practice in 1961. He practiced law for over 50 years and taught at the graduate level at both the University of Mississippi and Jackson State University. He was a member of the Methodist Church the Fellowship of St. John the Devine and the Boston Club of New Orleans. IN MEMORIAM The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 51 CLE Calendar of Events The following live programs have been approved by the Mississippi Commission on Continuing Legal Education. This list is not all-inclusive. For information regarding other programs including teleconferences and online programs contact Tracy Graves CLE Administrator at 601576-4622 or 1-800-441-8724 or check out our website www.mssc.state.ms.us. Mississippi now approves online programs for CLE credit. For a list of approved courses check the Calendar of Events on our website. For information on the approval process for these programs please see Regulations 3.3 and 4.10 posted under the CLE Rules on our website or contact Tracy Graves at the numbers listed above. APRIL 1 UM CLE Trial Skills CLE Seminar. 6.0 credits includes ethics. Ridgeland MS Hyatt Place. Contact 662-915-1354 Cindy Heuser. 5 MS State University 29th Annual MSU Insurance Day. 12.0 cred- its includes 3.0 hours of ethics. Starkville MS. Contact 662-325- 0357 Seth Pounds. 7 MS Bar YLD Litigation 101 Series Appeals. 2.0 credits. Jackson MS MS Bar Center. Contact 601-355- 9226 Rene Garner. 7 NBI Legal Descriptions Title Insurance Surveys in Real Estate Transactions. 6.0 credits includes ethics. Gulfport MS. Contact 715- 835-8525. 8 MS Access to Justice Basics of Mississippis Expungement Laws. 1.0 credit. Jackson MS. Contact 601-960-9581. 13 MC School of Law One Loud Voice A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Prevention of Child Abuse. 6.0 includes ethics. Biloxi MS. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 14 MC School of Law One Loud Voice A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Prevention of Child Abuse. 6.0 includes ethics. Biloxi MS. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 16 MS School Board Assn MSBA Legislative Update School Law Review Conference. 6.0 credits includes ethics. Pearl MS Holiday Inn Trustmark Park. Contact 601-924- 2001 April Mills. 21 MS Insurance Education Foundation Ethics in the Insurance Profession. 2.5 credits includes 2.5 ethics. Jackson MS. Contact 601-957-4506. 21 Sterling Education Services Inc. Employment Law Update Cutting Edge Issues. 6.7 credits. Biloxi MS. Contact 715-855-0495. 26 NBI Farm Business Law. 6.0 cred- its includes ethics. Jackson MS. Contact 715-835-8525. 22 MC School of Law Mediation Conference. 6.0 includes eth- ics. Jackson MS MC School of Law. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 28 MS Association for Justice Civil Litigation Practice Seminar. 6.0 credits includes ethics. MS Gulf Coast Community College. Contact 601-948-8631. 29 MS Bar YLD New Lawyer Program. 6.0 credits includes 3.0 ethics. Jackson MS MS Sports Hall of Fame. Contact 601-355-9226 Rene Garner. 29-30 UM CLE Mississippi Law Update CLE Seminar. 12.0 credits includes ethics. Natchez MS Dunleith Historic Inn. Contact 662-915-1354 Cindy Heuser. MAY 3 MS School Board Assn CSBA Seminar on School Law. 6.0 credits includes ethics. Pearl MS Holiday Inn Trustmark Park. Contact 601-924- 2001 April Mills. 4 MS School Board Assn Legal Hot Topics with Jim Keith FSLA. 3.0 credits. Pearl MS Holiday Inn Trustmark Park. Contact 601-924- 2001 April Mills. 5 MS Bar YLD Litigation 101 Series Ethics Civility. 2.0 credits includes ethics. Jackson MS MS Bar Center. Contact 601-355-9226 Rene Garner. 6 MC School of Law 18th Annual Guardian Ad Litem Child Advo- cacy Training. 6.0 includes eth- ics. Jackson MS MC School of Law. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 10-11 Millsaps College Commercial Real Estate Seminar. 14.0 cred- its. Jackson MS Millsaps College Murrah Hall. Contact 601-974-1250 Harvey Fiser. 11 NBI Human Resource Law Boot Camp. 6.0 credits. Jackson MS. Contact 715-835-8525. 18 Sterling Education Services Inc. Construction Law Designs Delays Disputes Delivery. 6.7 credits includes ethics. Biloxi MS. Contact 715-855-0495. 19 MS Access to Justice Basics of Mississippis Expungement Laws. 1.0 credit. Hattiesburg MS. Contact 601-960-9581. 26 MC School of Law New Lawyer Training. 6.0 includes ethics. Jackson MS MC School of Law. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 27 MC School of Law New Lawyer Training. 6.0 includes ethics. Jackson MS MC School of Law. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. JUNE 1 MS Bar YLD New Lawyer Program. 3.0 credits includes 3.0 ethics. Hattiesburg MS. Contact 601-355-9226 Rene Garner. 16 NBI Collection Law from Start to Finish. 6.0 credits includes ethics. Jackson MS. Contact 715-835-8525. JULY 11-13 MS Bar 2016 Summer School for Lawyers. 12.0 credits includes eth- ics. Sandestin FL Bayside-Linkside Conference Center. Contact 601-353- 1703. 21 MC School of Law Annual CLE Marathon. 6.0 includes ethics. Jackson MS MC School of Law. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 22 MC School of Law Annual CLE Marathon. 6.0 includes ethics. Jackson MS MC School of Law. Contact 601-925-7197 Tammy Upton. 22 Prentiss County Bar 17th Annual BenchBar Seminar. 6.0 cred- its includes ethics. Iuka MS JP Coleman State Park. Contact 662- 728-2131 Tommy Cadle. 52 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer The Law Firm of MCGEHEE MCGEHEE TORREY is pleased to announce that ANNA BETH BAKER Juris Doctor - University of Mississippi has become associated with the rm James A. Torrey Jr. Lane B. Reed Mary Kathryn Williamson Anna Beth Baker 26 South First Street Telephone 601-384-2343 Post Ofce Box 188 Facsimile 601-384-5442 Meadville Mississippi 39653 mmtlawmmtlaw.net WELLS MARBLE HURST PLLC Attorneys at Law is pleased to announce that CHELSEA H. BRANNON JOHN C. DUKE and DORISSA S. SMITH are now associated with the rm Ridgeland Oxford Post Ofce Box 131 Post Ofce Box 2477 Jackson Mississippi 39205-0131 Oxford Mississippi 38655 300 Concourse Boulevard Suite 200 2091 Old Taylor Road Suite 101 Ridgeland Mississippi 39157 Oxford Mississippi 38655 Telephone 601-605-6900 Telephone 662-236-1500 Facsimile 601-605-6901 Facsimile 662-236-2374 www.wellsmarble.com Free background information available upon request. TAYLOR WELLONS POLITZ DUHE APLC is pleased to announce B. LYLE ROBINSON has become a Partner in the firm 100 Webster Circle Suite 104 Madison Mississippi 39110 Telephone 769-300-2988 Facsimile 769-300-2145 www.twpdlaw.com New Orleans Baton Rouge Jackson BRUNINI GRANTHAM GROWER HEWES PLLC is pleased to announce our new members MARK M. HOSEMANN and TAYLOR B. MCNEEL and welcome as an associate THOMAS W. IKARD 190 E. Capitol Street Suite 100 955 Howard Avenue Jackson Mississippi 39201 Biloxi Mississippi 39530 410 Main Street Columbus Mississippi 39701 www.brunini.com The Mississippi Lawyer Winter 2016 53 TAGGART RIMES GRAHAM PLLC Attorneys at Law takes pleasure in announcing that NAVKETAN KAUR DESAI has joined the firm as counsel Direct 601-707-3807 Email navtrglawyers.com Telephone 601-898-8400 Facsimile 601-898-8420 100 Renaissance Building 1022 Highland Colony Parkway Suite 101 Ridgeland Mississippi 39157 www.trglawyers.com MARKOW WALKER P.A. Attorneys at Law is pleased to announce that COURTNEY TITUS DAVIS has become a Shareholder with the firm effective January 1 2016 Jackson Office --- 599 Highland Colony Parkway - Suite 100 Ridgeland MS 39157 Telephone 601-853-1911 Post Office Box 13669- Jackson Mississippi 39236-3669 265 N. Lamar Boulevard. Suite I 2113 Government Street Building M Oxford Mississippi 38655 Ocean Springs Mississippi 39564 Telephone 662-234-9899 Telephone 228-872-1923 54 Winter 2016 The Mississippi Lawyer C L A S S I F I E D A D V E R T I S I N G QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINER Robert G. Foley Forensic Document Examiner 1109 North 4th Street Monroe LA 71201 318-322-0661 www.robertgfoley.com Scientific Examination of Handwriting Type- writing Ink and Paper Analysis Dating Copies and other Related Document Problems. Diplomate American Board of Forensic Document Examiners Inc. Member American Society of Questioned Document Examiners American Academy of Forensic Sciences Education BS MS MA J.D. Qualified and Experienced Expert Witness in Federal State Municipal and Military Courts. Certified Personal Property Appraisers Certified Bonded Insured and Photo Docu- mented Appraisals for Legal requirements. Divorce acquisisions insurance bankruptcy IRS courts. Household goods furniture works of art vehicles trucks vans boats guns antiques jewelry airplanes atvs paintings rugs furs farm equipment electronics appli- ances restaurants tractor trailers business inventories construction medical. Nick Clark CAGA 601-317-2536 Statewide Service - Court Approved ESTATE ATTORNEYS R.E. Auctions Business Liquidations Estate Sales Certified Appraiser Mississippi Louisiana Licensed Bonded Insured Court Approved Clark Auctions Nick Clark RE Broker 601-317-2536 NickNickClarkAuctions.com COLD CASE INVESTIGATIONS 601-660-4547 Arleaux.1.1att.net No Case Too Long Forgotten No Case Too Complex Homicide Missing Persons Unsolved Myster- ies Adoptions Grand Larceny. Profiling. Over 30 years of experience. LEGAL MALPRACTICE Expert Witness - PL or DF Insurance Coverage Disputes Ethics Defense Call Paul Snow 601-969-1977 or paulsnowiiimsn.com 40 years of litigation experience www.accidentattys.com Board Certified Forensic Document Examiner Full Service Forensic Document and Hand- writing Laboratory 35 yrs Crime Laboratory Experience Qualified as an Expert in Federal State and Municipal Courts Excellent turn around time Certified American Board of Forensic Document Examiners Member American Society of Forensic Document Examiners American Academy of Forensic Sciences Steven G. Drexler Drexler Document Laboratory LLC Pelham Alabama 205-685-9985 www.drexdoclab.com EXPERT WITNESS Premise Liability Security Negligence Police Practices Policies Former police chief with more than thirty- five years of experience in law enforcement corrections and security available for consulta- tion on premise liability security procedures training and police practices. Federal and state court qualified. Robert L. Johnson MPA RL Johnson Associates LLC P.O. Box 23122 Jackson MS 39225 601-982-1177 rljandassociatesaol.com CONSTRUCTION EXPERT Over 40 years experience. Completed 100s of projects. Hands on in every aspect of construction. Currently have residential and commercial construction companies licensed and operating in Mississippi. Will save you time and money by helping develop your case Consulting Testimony Estimating Cost analysis Inspections Investigations. I have a mechanical engineering background. Experienced with Accidents Deaths Slip Fall Defects Disputes Various kinds Cost overruns Over drawn jobs Foundations Expansive soils Movements Drainage Foundation effect Contract Disputes Water intrusion mold rot Have worked cases involving Apartment complexes Casinos Convenience stores Churches Hospitals Hotels Restaurants Residences Contact Jodie Morgan J Morgan Consulting LLC PO Box 1303 Madison MS 39130 601 856-2089 jmorganbuilderaol.com www.jodiemorgan.com REFERENCES AVAILABLE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING EXPERTS Forensic engineering and investigative inspection work for Commercial buildings Residential Industrial facilities. Construction delay damages Construction defects Structural issues Foundations settlement Stucco EIFS For Industrial Facilities Commercial Buildings Residental Electrical issues Plumbing Piping Problems Air Conditioning Systems Fire Explosion Assessments Roofing problems Flooding Retention Ponds Engineering Standard of Care issues Radio Television Towers Contact Hal K. Cain Principal Engineer Cain and Associates Engineers Constructors Inc. Halkcainaol.com 251.473.7781 251.689.8975 www.hkcain.com Office space available immediately in Ridgeland near Northpark Mall. Shared down- stairs lobby upstairs suite of 3 offices confer- ence room reception area and bathroom. 1200mo plus utilities. 601-978-1700. Complete Set 84 Volumes American Jurisprudence 2nd 5 Volume General Index Deskbook Totaling 600.00 Two 2 Five Shelf bookcases for 50 each. Cumulative Supplements through April 1994. Contact Clay L. Pedigo 601-366-8273. REAL ESTATE LAW EXPERT WITNESS LITIGATION SUPPORT Qualified in Federal State Courts Martindale-Hubbell - AV Published Author Adjunct Prof. at MC LAW K. F. BOACKLE Attorney At Law 36 years 700 Avignon Dr. Suite C Ridgeland MS 39157 601-957-1557 kboacklerealestatelaw-ms.com www.realestatelaw-ms.com P.O. Box 2168 Jackson MS 39225-2168