| Bench Press
Alumna is second woman to serve on state Court of Appeals
by Elaine Pugh
Donna M. Barnes (JD 85) recently became the second woman ever to serve on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. She was appointed last year by Gov. Haley Barbour to fill the vacancy created in District 1 by the retirement of Chief Judge Roger H. McMillin Jr.
 For almost 19 years, Barnes practiced law with Mitchell, McNutt and Sams in Tupelo, concentrating in appellate practice, real estate, healthcare, employment discrimination, section 1983 litigation and professional liability defense.
The firm’s senior partner, L.F. Sams, commended Barnes. “She’s a very thorough and insightful lawyer—a brilliant analyst and writer,” he said. “Her experience in many areas of the law and her education at both the Ole Miss Law School and at Cambridge make her well-qualified to serve effectively in an appellate capacity. She has offered impressive briefs and motions on all types of cases. She’s a wonderful person, and we’re very proud for her.”
Although serving on the bench was not something Barnes contemplated while in law school, she said she began to consider the possibility of judicial service a few years ago.
“A large part of my private practice centered on research and writing. I concentrated on appellate practice to the extent possible in rural Mississippi. As an advocate, my first introduction to the case often was a review of the cold record at the beginning of the appeal process.
“I believe that experience has helped prepare me for service on the bench. Serving in the judiciary gives me the freedom to arrive at a decision based on my interpretation of the law. It is a different perspective from advocating a legal position to advance a client’s interests.”
A native of Natchez, Barnes graduated from Ole Miss in 1982 with highest honors, earning a double major in classical civilizations and English. She obtained her Juris Doctorate in 1985, graduating second in her class of 102. She was a research editor on the Mississippi Law Journal.
“I really hadn’t considered law school until I began to take stock as to what I might do
with my undergraduate degree,” Barnes said. Studying law seemed to fit in with my experience, including some degree of success that I had enjoyed in research and writing.”
Professor emeritus Guthrie Abbott, who taught Barnes in several courses, remembers her as “one of the best students we ever had at the law school.”
“She was a real leader, and I thoroughly expected her to be a tremendous success. She demonstrated such a keen intellect and inquiring mind, which are both very valuable assets for anyone serving on the bench.”
Barnes, in turn, lauds the law faculty.“I can’t imagine there being a finer faculty. They have experience in Mississippi practice and can tie the academic concepts to the real world in a truly remarkable way.
“The law clerks that I have recently seen from the Ole Miss Law School are testaments to the fact that these same professors are still wonderful, and everyone recognizes it.”
Inspired by visits through the Ole Miss Continuing Legal Education program, Barnes took sabbatical in 1996 to study law at the University of Cambridge. She was one of three American students in the Master of Laws program, which that year admitted 152 attorneys from 48 countries. Her studies included international commercial litigation, comparative public law, international human rights, and law and practice of civil liberties. A member of Magdalene College, Barnes earned her Master of Laws degree in 1997. She said her time at Cambridge was very rewarding.
“Discussing human rights with lawyers from Ireland, Pakistan, Australia and other countries provided me with a different perspective. Laws and legal systems of one country may not work well in another society.”
Through another educational experience, in November at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev., Barnes attended a judicial seminar on the Fourth Amendment. The training was organized by Thomas K. Clancy, director of the National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law at the UM Law School.
“It was an excellent program, and all of the judges seemed impressed with the quality of the seminar,” Barnes said. “I was very proud to see that high level of scholarship traced to Ole Miss and to have it recognized by other judges.”
Barnes warns law students that while there are many rewards in a legal career, it’s also difficult and stressful.
“You have to be able to find a balance. Once out, find a firm where you really enjoy being with the people, because you’re going to spend so much time with them. I was so fortunate in that respect. The most difficult part of making this career transition was having to leave the firm ‘family’ after 19 years.”
Her move to Jackson, however, means she’s closer to her parents, Charles and Ouida Barnes of Natchez, and younger brother, Paul Barnes, who graduated first in his class from the Ole Miss Law School in 1998. He is a shareholder in the firm of Wise Carter Child and Caraway.
“I taught him everything he knows,” Barnes said with a laugh.
Barnes also has two older siblings. Her brother, Glenn Barnes, is an analytical chemist in Plaquemine, La., and sister, Claire McCullough, is a professor of electrical engineering at University of Tennessee Chattanooga.
Besides spending time with family, including 10 nieces and nephews, Barnes said she enjoys Ole Miss football and travel, mostly vacations with friends she met while at Cambridge.
A member of the Lamar Order of the Law Alumni Chapter, Barnes belongs to the 5th Circuit and American Bar Associations and the Mississippi Bar. She is admitted to practice before the U.S.
Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi and the courts of the state of Mississippi.
Elaine Pugh is UM’s assistant director of media and public relations.
Back to top Fit for Duty
Alum makes waves with responsibility for all
individual Navy training
by Elaine Pugh
 Jamie Barnett (JD 84) was recalled to active duty in the Naval Reserve, where he has been promoted to the rank of rear admiral and approved to become a one-star admiral in January 2005. With offices in the Pentagon, he is second in command of a $4 billion enterprise responsible for all individual training in the U.S. Navy. Under his command are nearly 20,000 officers and enlisted members and more than 18,000 civilian employees.
A Clinton native, Barnett was reared in a home where learning was revered and the desire to succeed was planted and nurtured.
After graduating from Clinton High School, he chose to attend The University of Mississippi because, he says, “My father went there, and I was brought up believing that the only reason other schools existed was so that Ole Miss could play other teams in sports.”
He became a team player in government on the Oxford campus, serving as president of the Associated Student Body, and he was named to the Hall of Fame. He graduated in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and an ROTC commission as a communications officer. He served aboard the destroyer USS Jonas Ingram, home ported in Mayport, Fla., deploying to the Mediterranean and to the Middle East.
Barnett completed his first tour of active duty with the Navy as assistant professor of naval science at UM from 1978 to 1982. He then enrolled at the UM Law School, where he chaired the Moot Court Board and was named the Dean Parham Williams Outstanding Student.
Williams recalled Barnett as “a super human being, blessed with a warm, friendly personality, a genuine appreciation of other people and
an admirable work ethic.”
“Jamie is a natural born leader—the sort who inspires and motivates others,” Williams said. “I remember telling him several times that he someday would be governor or perhaps U.S. senator.”
In fact, Barnett was a 1994 Democratic candidate for Congress for the 1st District of Mississippi, the seat currently held by Rep. Roger Wicker. In retrospect, Barnett said, “Running for and losing a race for Congress was one of the toughest and most positive developments in my life.”
As a member of the Tupelo firm Mitchell, McNutt & Sams from 1984 to 2001, Barnett was drawn toward a commitment to education. He served as board attorney for Tupelo Public Schools, Tishomingo Public Schools and Aberdeen Public Schools, representing hundreds of schools, counties and public officials in state and federal courts. He was president of the Council of School Board Attorneys for the state in 1999-2000.
“While being involved in education was not something that I had planned, the opportunity to work in the trenches, doing things to help people on a daily basis, was fascinating to me,” Barnett said. “And I certainly enjoyed working on cases that ended up making statewide precedents.”
Since being called back to the military in 2001, Barnett has been involved in educating and training military personnel. He served for a year on Task Force EXCEL (Excellence in Education and Training) in Washington, D.C., as project manager of the Personal Development Vector. According to a Pentagon press release, he became the change management leader to ensure that the innovative learning organization was executed and actually put into place. As a result, he was awarded the Navy Meritorious Service Medal and was made commanding officer of the Navy Center for Personal Development in Virginia Beach, Va., one of the new organizations arising out of the revolution in training.
“Naval education and training is undergoing a massive transformation—a revolution that involves performance-based learning,” Barnett said.“I am fascinated and reassured that the men and women who are the Navy’s top decision makers are bringing the best, most innovative business practices to this institution. I may be the deputy director of naval training and education, but I am the one getting the education.”
Barnett was also recalled to active duty in 1990 during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. As a lieutenant commander, he was the executive officer of the Military Sealift Command Office in Saudi Arabia, for which he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal.
Barnett said he attributes his success to “having some really great parents, a remarkable wife, family and friends—senior partners at the [Tupelo] law firm and friends and mentors in the Navy—I owe it in large part to the opportunities that Ole Miss and the Ole Miss Law School provided me. Then there’s luck involved and being able to take advantage of opportunity when it comes along.”
Judging from their similar careers, he also was no doubt inspired by his father, who attended Ole Miss, served in the military as a World War II naval aviator, practiced law and became a chancery judge.
Interjecting a bit of humor, Barnett said, “It may come as some surprise to my law school professors and classmates that I have had this measure of success, but it wouldn’t surprise them to know that it has not been in practicing law.”
Barnett said he would tell law students or those considering legal careers not to concentrate on studying a particular area of the law, because interests change over time. “You can’t, as I couldn’t, predict what you may want to do five or 10 years later, so take a variety of subjects, some that may not sound interesting at all. Municipal law, for example, sounded mundane to me at the time.”
As for interests outside his career, Barnett said he enjoys theater: “If I were a rich man, I would go from theater to theater.” He also runs and works out to keep physically fit. And family is a top priority. He is married to the former Celia Grisham of Oxford, who teaches eighth-grade English. Their children are Owen, a computer engineer, and Elizabeth, a junior musical theater major at New York University.
Back to top
Professional Notes
1960s
Edward Lloyd Pittman Sr. (60), former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, joined the newly formed firm Danks, Dye, Mills and Pittman in Hattiesburg.
Joe R. Colingo (63) retired from the practice of law. The firm previously known as Colingo Williams Heidelberg Steinberger & McElhaney is now Williams Heidelberg Steinberger & McElhaney.
D. Briggs Smith Jr. (66) is The University of Mississippi’s 2004 Law Alumnus of the Year.
James E. Baine (68), a general attorney with Murphy Oil Corporation in Eldorado, Ark., was elected vice chairman of the Labor and Employment Law Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel at the association’s annual meeting in Chicago.
Back to top
1970s
Constance Slaughter-Harvey (70) received the 2004 Susie Blue Buchanan Award for leadership and commitment to the advancement of women in the field of law. The award was presented at the sixth annual Price-Prather Luncheon at the Mississippi Bar’s 2004 annual meeting.
Robert H. Walker (73) joined Wells Marble & Hurst in Jackson.
Wilton J. Johnson III (75) is managing director in the Jackson office of McGlinchey Stafford.
David P. Jaqua (76) joined the labor and employment group at Butler Snow. His practice has been concentrated in those areas since 1977.
William L. Waller Jr. (77), presiding justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, received the 2004 Judicial Innovation Award, presented by the Hinds County Bar Association and the Jackson Young Lawyers Association.
Marvin L. “Sonny” White Jr. (77) was honored with the William J. Schafer III Award by the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation.
John M. McCullouch (78) and Frank Spencer (76) were two of a dozen honorees selected as Jackson’s 2004 Outstanding Volunteers.
Charles N. Parrott (78) was named banking and finance practice team leader at Adams and Reese in Jackson.
Toni Campbell Parker (79) is a partner in the Hernando firm Myers Graves &
Parker.
Back to top
1980s
Michael Hartung (80) relocated his office to 513 N. State St. in Jackson.
Gee Ogletree (80), partner at Adams and Reese, received a Corporate Partner award from the Mississippi Urban Forest Council and the Mississippi Forestry Commission at the 2004 Celebration of Trees Urban and Community Forestry awards ceremony. He is one of the first attorneys in the South to receive an award for his dedication to urban forestry.
Ronnie Musgrove (81), former governor, joined the Ridgeland law firm Copeland, Cook, Taylor and Bush.
Rusty Infinger (84) is listed in Best Lawyers in America. He is associated with the firm Nexsen Pruet in Columbia, S.C.
J. Steele Olmstead (84) is a sole practitioner in Tampa, Fla., handling personal injury and consumer law cases.
George “Dewey” Hembree III (86) joined McGlinchey Stafford in Jackson as counsel in the area of commercial litigation.
Marian S. Alexander (87) was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She is affiliated with Lake Tindall in Greenville.
N. Victoria Holladay (87) is a partner with Ford & Harrison in Oxford.
C. Stevens Seale (87) is a partner in the public law and policy group at Smith, Reeves & Yarborough in Jackson. He is a former state senator and chief counsel to Sen. Trent Lott.
David W. Case (88) earned his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in interdisciplinary studies: environmental law, management and policy. He is an assistant professor at Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in Memphis.
Back to top
1990s
Richard E. Grove Jr. (90), a major in the Air Force Reserve, received the 2004 Judge Advocates Association’s Outstanding Career Judge Advocate Award.
Anthony N. Lawrence III (90) is district attorney for the 19th Circuit Court District encompassing Jackson, George and Greene counties.
Michael D. Caples (94) joined the Jackson office of Butler Snow O’Mara Stevens
& Cannada in the environmental law
section.
David A. Chandler (94), a Mississippi Court of Appeals judge, was awarded a Master of Laws in the judicial process from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Walter Alan Davis (94) is a member of Dunbar & Associates in Oxford.
Amanda Jones (96) is a partner at Bradley Arant Rose & White in Jackson and member of the white-collar criminal defense and litigation practice groups.
Michael D. Orr (96) is a staff attorney in the litigation group at Base, Berry & Sims in Nashville.
LeAnne Littlejohn Abbott (97) is managing attorney in the new office of Bond, Botes, and Abbott in Oxford.
D. James Blackwood Jr. (97) is a shareholder at Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush in Jackson.
Victor Donald Hunt (97) is a shareholder at Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush in Jackson.
Michael McMillan (97) completed active duty as a naval intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy. He is an associate with Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stile in Gulfport.
Christie Spence Adams (98) relocated from the Oxford office to join the quality control department of the Realty Mortgage Corporation in its Flowood office.
Paul E. Barnes (98) is a shareholder at the frim of Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway in Jackson.
Dustin N. Thomas (98) joined the Ocean Springs law firm of Denham, Backstrom & Associates. He is the former assistant district attorney for Jackson, George and Greene counties.
Wiley “Jay” Barbour Jr. (99) is associated with Carroll, Warren & Parker in Jackson.
Jennifer Gingery Cook (99) is the senior employment attorney for Dollar General Corporation in Goodlettsville, Tenn.
Wendy C. Hollingsworth (99) is a partner in the Ocean Springs office of Denham, Backstrom & Hollingsworth.
Maretta Martin McLeod Walley (99) of Oxford was appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour to a five-year term on the Mississippi Board of Pharmacy.
Back to top
2000s
Michael Jason Akers (00) is an associate at the new Jackson law firm Watkins and Young.
Lee Ann Coppenbarger Thigpen (00) is associated with Carroll, Warren & Parker in Jackson.
G. Diana Dornan (01) is a public relations consultant with Fusion PR in New York City.
Richard C. Miller III (01) is a consultant with Enterprise Solution Providers in Ellicott City, Md.
Holly F. Trudell (01) is an associate in the Gulfport office of Phelps Dunbar.
Alexandra F. Markov (01) is associated with Carroll, Warren & Parker in Jackson.
Patrick Daniel Riederer (01) is an associate with Ford & Harrison in Oxford.
Asa Wade Baker (formerly Asa Wade Hercules) (02) is an associate in the Memphis office of Leitner, Williams, Dooley and Napolitan.
LeAnne Franklin Brady (02) is an associate in the new office of Bond, Botes, and Abbott in Oxford.
Shaun R. Cade (02) is an associate with Jude Law Firm in Hattiesburg.
Brandon C. Cordell (02) is an associate with Jackson Lewis in Atlanta.
Michael W. Dale (02) is an associate with Chinn & Associates in Jackson.
Jennifer Nan Hale (02) is an associate with McGlinchey Stafford in Jackson.
Lyndsay Fuller Hood (02) works in the Law Enforcement and Special Prosecutions Division of the Office of the Attorney General for the state of Tennessee.
Robert H. Paine (02) opened his own tax practice, Law Office of Robert H. Paine, in Flowood.
T.L. “Smith” Boykin III (03) is an associate with the Jackson office of Carroll Warren & Parker.
Lindy Denise Brown (03) is an associate at Watkins & Eager in Jackson.
Christian E. Buhrer (03) is an associate with Home, Roberts & Owen in Salt Lake City. He received a Master of Laws in taxation from Northwestern University.
Adam K. Draney (03) is an associate with Daniel Coker Horton & Bell in Jackson.
Frank Hartley (03) is an associate with the Lawrenceville, Ga., firm Thompson & Sweeney. He is a former law clerk to Justice Thomas Woodall on the Alabama Supreme Court.
Cory Randle Lancaster (03) has joined the Jackson office of Watkins, Ludlam, Winter and Stennis. He received a Master of Laws in taxation from the University of Florida.
Jeremy P. McNinch (03), a former law clerk to Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Jim Smith, is an associate with Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles.
Mary Ellen Patton (03) is an associate in the general litigation practice group in the Ridgeland office of Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush.
Brett A. Schubert (03) is a real estate attorney in the Memphis office of Realty Title, a subsidiary of Crye-Leike.
Melissa P. Selman (03) is an associate at Armstrong Allen in Jackson. She will focus on construction law.
Matthew M. Hanson (04) is a partner with Lott, Lucas & Hanson in Hattiesburg.
Brian O. Lucas (04) is a partner with Lott, Lucas & Hanson in Hattiesburg.
Melissa A. Rose (04) is associated with Carroll, Warren & Parker in Jackson.
Back to top
Marriages
Wendy Keith Thompson (93) to Carter Thompson (84), July 31, 2004.
Stephanie L. Johansen to Kenneth H. Coghlan (87), May 29, 2004, in the Bahamas.
Kelly Renee Riley to Donald James Blackwood (97), Sept. 25, 2004, at St. James Episcopal Church in Jackson.
Julia Gracen Spearman to Michael Lloyd McMillan (97), July 24, 2004.
Shannon Suzanne Fite to S. Trent Favre (99), Aug. 7, 2004, at First United Methodist Church in Jackson, Tenn.
Sally Margaret “Mimi” Long to Norman Elvin “Benje” Bailey Jr. (00), June 26, 2004, at Calvary Baptist Church in
Tupelo.
Jillian Rose James to James Douglas Foster (02), Oct. 23, 2004, at First Baptist Church in Moss Point.
Janice Baker to Asa Wade Hercules (02), June 13, 2004.
Jennifer Rebecca Watts to Samuel D. Wright (03), July 10, 2004, in Oxford.
Meredith R. Green (04) to Hugh A. Gamble III (04), Aug.16, 2004, in Seagrove Beach, Fla.
Back to top
Births
Heath Michael Stevens, son of Victoria Williams Stevens and Michael D. Stevens (93), June 20, 2004.
Preston Brent Gautier, son of Pamela Brent Gautier (93) and Michael J. Gautier Jr. (95), May 5, 2004. Their son Gavin James Gautier was born Dec. 27, 2002.
William Goodloe Lewis, son of Angie Lewis and Goodloe Lewis (94), Aug. 6, 2004.
Michael Elias Patterson, son of Libbie A. Kakales Patterson (95) and Kevin Patterson, May 21, 2004.
Molly Catherine Tannehill, daughter of Robyn McKenzie Tannehill and J. Rhea Tannehill Jr. (96), July 23, 2004.
Sara Frances Neyman, daughter of Mary Phillips Neyman and Jody Neyman (96), June 15, 2004.
Rosemary Katherine Frugé, daughter of Liza Mitchell Frugé (97) and Don. L. Frugé Jr. (96), April 24, 2004.
Henry Lewis Hyneman, son of Amanda Lewis Hyneman and J. Brian Hyneman (98), Aug.19, 2004.
Lillie Leanor Warrington, daughter of Dana Warrington and Robert N. Warrington (98), July 28, 2004.
Taylor Justice Grigsby, daughter of Kathleen Grigsby and Kenneth Grigsby (00), Oct. 29, 2003.
Sophie Caroline Smith, daughter of Michelle Miller Smith (00) and Dan Smith, Jan. 30, 2004.
Aubrey Ethel Bubrig, daughter of Jennifer Hayes and Eric Bubrig (01), April 8, 2004.
James Donald Maxwell III, son of Mindy Maxwell and James Donald Maxwell II (01), June 24, 2004.
Benjamin Eli Nordstrom, son of Merril King Nordstrom (02) and Timothy Nordstrom, Oct. 3, 2004.
Emma Catherine Kirk, daughter of Amy M. Kirk and R. Adam Kirk (03), Aug. 11, 2004.
Back to top
Deaths
Aline Everitt Baine (30) of Gulfport, May 11, 2004
Herman C. Glazier Jr. (42) of Gulfport, Oct. 27, 2004
Wade Montgomery Baine (69) of Gulfport, May 25, 2004
Roy J. Farrell (83) of Tupelo, June 17, 2004
John Campbell McLaurin (48) of Brandon, June 26, 2004
James E. Thomas (73) of Jackson, July 4, 2004
George P. Hewes III (54) of Jackson, July 5, 2004
Norman L. Breland (67) of Biloxi, July 27, 2004
Jan Pegues Patterson (71) of Aberdeen, Aug. 7, 2004
Natalie Nix Montgomery Bailey (99) of Pontotoc, Aug. 25, 2004
Clyde Vernon McKee Jr. (46) of Orange, Texas, Sept.14, 2004
Walter Wright Thompson (71) of Clarksdale, Sept. 29, 2004
Back to top
Pharmacist Turned Attorney
Is UM’s Law Alumnus of the Year
A pharmacist turned attorney with an exemplary record of community service is UM’s Law Alumnus of the Year.
D. Briggs Smith Jr., a 1966 UM law graduate and a founding partner of the firm Smith, Phillips, Mitchell and Scott, was recognized by the School of Law during last year’s Mississippi Bar convention in Destin, Fla.
“Briggs is a fine example of one who has given back to the law school considerably, in terms of his time, talents and gifts,” said Dean Samuel Davis. “He is truly a friend of the law school.”
Smith’s firm has offices in his hometown of Batesville and in Hernando. He is a registered pharmacist who received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy at UM in 1962. Pharmacy was a “good prelude to a law career,” Smith said.
“Over the years, he has been a consistent supporter of the schools of law and pharmacy, the Triplett Alumni Center and UM athletics,” said David McCormick, president of UM’s Law Alumni Chapter.
Smith is actively involved in numerous church, civic and charitable programs in Batesville, including the Boy Scouts and the Rotary Club. He is a past president of the UM Law Alumni Chapter, and, as chair of the Lamar Order from 2002 to 2003, Smith attracted a record 71 new members, all of whom made substantial financial commitments to the law school.
“Ole Miss gave me the opportunity to practice a profession that I chose and enjoy,” Smith said. “There is nothing more enjoyable than representing the Ole Miss Law School.”
Davis said that during his travels with Smith to recruit new Lamar Order members, Smith often spoke of an obligation “to give something back to the law school.”
Smith and his wife, Dot, have three sons—Dan, Carter and Fancher—and three granddaughters.
—Natashia Gregoire
Back to top
|
