News & Knowledge

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.

Win Gault and Jake Banks obtained a defense verdict in an arbitration concerning claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“Act”). Claimant maintained that Respondent (a national retailer) violated the Act by using an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) to place calls to her cellular phone to collect a delinquent debt.

A FormanWatkins trial team consisting of Peter Moir, Tim Gray, and Margaret McLaughlin just obtained a defense verdict in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The case involved a claim that an equipment manufacturer supplied asbestos-containing components in equipment it provided to a copper mine and that the components caused the mesothelioma and subsequent death of a mine employee. 

Jackson Associate Spencer Ritchie recently had a political redistricting article published with the Mississippi Business Journal. Read the article below, or click the title to access it via the Mississippi Business Journal.

Jackson associates Sam Kapoor and Taylor White recently won a criminal trial in the youth court of Lafayette County, Mississippi.  Kapoor and White represented a minor charged with simple assault by threat.  After Kapoor and White put on the Youth Defendant’s case-in-chief, which involved the cross-examination of the victim, two police officers, and a detective, the Defense moved the Court for a directed verdict.  Finding the State failed to present sufficient evidence of subjective fear, an essential element of the charge of simple assault by threat, the Court granted their motion and directed a verdict in favor of the Youth Defendant.

Jackson Partner Peyton Smith recently had an article published in DRI’s For The Defense (June 2019).  Click the image below to read it.

New Jersey partners Tom Toman and Nicole Diesa recently won a summary judgment motion in New Jersey asbestos litigation.  Despite a tentative decision to deny the motion, the Court eventually granted summary judgment and found that based upon a failure to establish causation, plaintiff could not submit a legally sufficient case against the manufacturer of electrical products represented by FormanWatkins.  Ms. Diesa wrote the winning briefs, and Mr. Toman gave the oral argument.

Malissa Wilson and Courtney Hunt won summary judgment in a case involving an uninsured/underinsured coverage dispute. The plaintiffs were seeking $3 million in uninsured/underinsured coverage. The Court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that the policies in dispute had been properly non-renewed and were not in effect at the time of the accident.