News & Knowledge

FormanWatkins recently hosted a lunch and learn at Southern University Law School in Baton Rouge. Our attorneys structured the lunch and learn as a roundtable discussion with over 65 first year students to encourage them to ask the questions they need answers to the most.

Malissa Wilson, Vernon McFarland, and Trey Williams represented the Firm today at the annual National Bar Association Corporate Counsel Conference in New Orleans. The conference was a great success as both attendees and exhibitors!

FormanWatkins attorneys Chelsea Favret, Elizabeth Penn, and McCann LeFeve participated in the three-day DRI 2020 Women in the Law Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona, during January.

On January 31, 2020, New Orleans attorneys Charles Abbott and Margaret McLaughlin guest lectured a Toxic Tort Class at LSU Law School.

In the spirit of giving, our New Jersey, Jackson, and New Orleans offices kept with past traditions and donated their efforts with local charities. New Jersey purchased various winter items and donated them to Lunch Break. Jackson adopted children from the Angel Tree Program through Prison Fellowship Ministries. New Orleans adopted a family through Catholic Charities’ Adopt-A-Family program. Thank you all for your compassion and continued support of these local charities! (Nicole Diesa and Donna Ross from the NJ office) (Jackson Office) (New Orleans Office)

Win Gault and Spencer Ritchie presented oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Gault and Ritchie appeared before the Court on behalf of an oil and gas company after having obtained a bench trial verdict for the company in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The District Court awarded our client contractual damages, attorney fees, prejudgment interest, and post-judgment interest totaling more than $800,000.

On November 21, 2019, a Jackson, Mississippi Arbitrator returned an award in favor of a national retailer represented by Win Gault and Jake Banks. The Claimant maintained that the retailer willfully violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by using an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) to place 500 collection calls to his cellular telephone number.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, on Thursday, October 31, our offices wore pink to honor those we have lost, those who are fighting, and those who have survived.

Happy National Pro Bono Week! So far in 2019…. Our pro bono successes include: Two partners winning asylum for an Iraqi Christian family; Two associates successfully defending a juvenile in a youth court trial; Spearheading a Veterans information and resources clinic; and Co-hosting a pro se clinic at the Hinds County Chancery Court. Our current pro bono projects include: Partnering with the Mississippi College of Law Education Clinic to represent students in school discipline and special education cases; 11 attorneys across three offices working on appeals for two juveniles sentenced to life without parole; Co-hosting another Veteran’s information and resources clinic in November; and Over 100 hours (and counting!) responding to the needs of recently detained immigrants. FormanWatkins encourages its attorneys to do meaningful pro bono work that serves the communities in which we live and work.  For more information on our commitment to pro bono service, please visit our page here.

Mitch McGuffey and Peyton Smith successfully represented a family of five Iraqi Christians seeking asylum in the United States. The family fled from northern Iraq in fall of 2014 to escape ISIS and persecution on account of their religious beliefs. Mitch and Peyton drafted asylum briefs for each member of the family and represented them at their merits hearing in the New Orleans Immigration Court, where they were granted asylum. The firm is proud to have represented the family and prouder still that they can remain in the United States. The case was referred to FormanWatkins initially through its pro bono partnership with Catholic Charities of Jackson. Later, immigration attorney Amelia McGowan moved to a new position with another FormanWatkins pro bono partner, Mississippi Center for Justice. Amelia provided invaluable knowledge and support. The Firm’s Jackson attorneys are currently representing several other asylum seekers through its partnership with MCJ.