Ronald Morton

Paul L. Gunn was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1983. His experience spans from real estate and commercial finance to corporate and securities, including representation of developers, lenders and title companies on commercial, multifamily and tax credit projects. Paul's legal work has earned him many honors, including The Best Lawyers in America , Chambers USA -America's Leading Lawyers for Business (Real Estate) and Mid-South Super Lawyers . Paul was also elected to fellowship in the Ame...

John T. Rouse represents corporate clients in private civil litigation in state and federal courts throughout the Southeast. He focuses a substantial portion of his practice handling complex civil litigation filed against financial institutions, domestic and foreign product manufacturers, automotive finance and insurance companies, and national insurance companies. John has extensive experience handling matters for banks, mortgage lenders, and mortgage servicers surrounding federal and state ...

Jennifer is a partner in Balch’s Jackson office and holds licenses in Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi. She is an experienced litigation attorney who practices primary in the areas of product liability, toxic and environmental torts, wrongful death, and negligence cases. For more than 18 years Jennifer has defended a myriad of product manufacturers and possesses specialized knowledge in silica litigation defense. Jennifer has defended thousands of silica claims across the Southeast for l...

La'Verne practices within Butler Snow's Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Litigation group and serves as the Chair of the firm’s Inclusivity Committee. She is experienced in defending cases involving product liability, medical negligence, premises liability, bad faith insurance, employment disputes and legal malpractice. Chambers USA, which recognized La’Verne for Litigation: General Commercial – Mississippi in 2023 and 2024, states that “[s]he is very well...

David Ayers was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1983 and is admitted to all state and federal courts in Mississippi and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He also has handled cases in a number of other states under pro hac vice privileges. David's experience includes commercial litigation, premises litigation and general personal injury litigation, with an emphasis on automotive, heavy equipment, industrial equipment and recreational product litigation. His cases of ...

Walter J. Brand heads the Employment and Labor Practice Group at Watkins & Eager PLLC, where he has defended employment litigation for more than twenty years. Walter approaches his practice with the view that successful defense of employment claims begins long before a lawsuit is filed and requires three essential components: (1) fair, accurate and documented handling of personnel actions based on updated employer policies; (2) cogent explanation of employer action before administrative a...

Chad Hutchinson is an experienced trial attorney who has defended clients in the products, pharmaceutical and medical device industries the majority of his career. He has successfully tried multiple cases to verdict in first chair trial roles in multi-district litigations and state courts around the country. Chad has previously been selected as a winner of the Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award by The Burton Foundation for his published work. He is listed in BL Rankings, The Best Lawyer...

Chris Pace is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. He advises on project finance and economic development law, state and local government law, economic development incentives, and gaming law. Chris’ clients include county and municipal governmental bodies as well as new and expanding business concerns, examples of which include a large steel company investing more than $1 billion in a new facility, and a regional beverage supplier investing millions of dollars to expand its existi...

R. David Marchetti is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law and Trusts and Estates. R. David practices law in Ridgeland, Mississippi Best Lawyers has recognized R. David Marchetti since 2013. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which R. David Marchetti is held by other lawyers.

Jim Pettis is a member of the Firm’s Trust, Estates & Personal Planning Service Team. He concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, probate, Elder Law, ERISA and employee benefits, state and federal taxation, business law including contracts, general corporate merger, reorganizations and acquisitions.