News & Knowledge

FormanWatkins released its 2021 Pro Bono & Civic Engagement Report this week. The Firm’s pro bono efforts are led by our Pro Bono Committee, whose members include: Alison McMinn, Courtney Hunt, Erin Latuso, Julian Miller, Margaret McLaughlin, Mimi Arthur, Mitch McGuffey, Nicole Diesa, and Vernon McFarland. Thank you to all team members involved with these cases, it truly makes a difference!

The Firm is excited to announce that Jordan Nixon and Trey Watkins, respectively, received the 2021 FormanWatkins Pro Bono Star and Civic Star awards!

Last year, FormanWatkins’ Pro Bono Committee unveiled the Pro Bono Star, a badge that will be awarded annually to attorneys in the Firm who dedicate 25+ hours to pro bono work in a calendar year. We are proud to announce that 16 attorneys will be receiving the Pro Bono Star badge for their service in 2021!

FormanWatkins attorneys visited with students from Mississippi College School of Law and The University of Mississippi School of Law on January 19, 2022 to share best practices for the students’ upcoming on-campus interviews.

Win Gault and Spencer Ritchie completed a successful administrative law trial before the United States Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law Judges.  The plaintiff, a former pilot, claimed monetary damages under the FAA whistle blower provisions from his employer in the high six-figures.  After a three-day trial and substantial post-trial briefing, the administrative law judge awarded only $2,700 in damages.

This past semester, FormanWatkins has been proud to host a series of Mississippi College School of Law classes in our Jackson office.  Adjunct Professor and retired FormanWatkins attorney Craig Brasfield has been teaching a semester-long class focused best practices for taking depositions. The class included weekly mock depositions of key witnesses in a variety of real-world scenarios, including a Covid wrongful death case, a divorce case, and a toxic-tort case. In addition to hosting the students in a real-world law firm environment, team members of the Firm played the roles of the witnesses in the mock scenarios, and our attorneys shared practical advice based upon their own deposition-taking experience. We enjoyed hosting the students and playing a part in skill development for their future practice.

FormanWatkins is pleased to welcome Taylor White back to the Firm after completing a year-long judicial clerkship for the Honorable Kristi H. Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP is proud to announce that 25 of its attorneys have been selected to the 2020 Mid-South Super Lawyers and/or Rising Stars lists! 

When I joined Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP, as a senior associate in October 2019, I did not initially envision my existing role as the pre-law director at Tougaloo College, an historically black college in Jackson, Mississippi, would so quickly intersect with my responsibilities at the firm. As the pre-law director, I was constantly seeking opportunities for my students to gain exposure to the law and legal profession. I have always believed that exposing diverse undergrad students, many of whom would be first-generation attorneys, to the legal profession would have the immediate benefit of improving their success in law school and the long-term benefit of success as a practicing attorney.

For 18 months, companies have been consumed with navigating a myriad of operational challenges during this once-in-a-generation pandemic.  HR departments have had the daunting task of interpreting in real time the onslaught of executive and state orders, congressional acts, and federal agencies guidelines to implement COVID-19 policies and procedures to address a variety of personnel matters from remote work to vaccination directives.